Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Fraudster Pretends to be a Genealogist to Steal Identities

New Zealander Kevin Anthony Osborne had a lucrative scam going. He applied to District Courts for birth certificates, sometimes ordering large amounts of data, claiming he was conducting genealogy research. He looked for males with birth dates near his own who had died. He then assumed their identity, applied for admission at various universities, and then applied for student loans.

“A couple of occasions they wrote to the courts saying they were conducting a genealogy research, and could they have the birth certificates for x amount of people, and they were subsequently supplied with them,” says Detective Sergeant Nigel Hughes, from Christchurch police.

How Much Does an Inkjet Printer Really Cost?

Inkjet printers are really cheap these days. Or are they? To be sure, local computer stores sell inkjet printers for $29.99 (see BestBuy's site for one such example). You can't get much cheaper, right? Well, sort of. In fact, I purchased a Macintosh computer last year, and Apple even included a “free” inkjet printer. You can't get much cheaper than free.

However, all printers have hidden costs in the form of ink or toner. In fact, most manufacturers lose money on the sale of the printers but make huge profits on the sale of inkjet cartridges. Would you believe that the “low cost” inkjet printer you use is consuming ink at the rate of roughly $3,000 a quart? That's a higher price than the very best cognac or ladies' perfume!

Update: Own a Piece of the Scottish Highlands?

This article is an update of one that first appeared in the November 18, 2002 issue of this newsletter. It seems that little has changed in past four and a half years.

Clett Island is situated on Loch Dunvegan in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. The island has a long history, witnessing several of Scotland's historic events. Previous owners of the island include Olave the Black (a Norwegian warlord) in 1200 A.D., the MacDonald clan, their rivals the MacLeods, as well as popular 1960s folk singer Donovan. There is no source of fresh water on the island. There is no regularly-scheduled boat service, and there is no place to land an airplane, other than perhaps a helicopter. The island remains deserted today.

Richard Haigh, the present owner of the island, decided to sell the uninhabited island. Claiming that he wishes to preserve the past, Haigh is selling small plots on Clett Island as "Heritage Land Plots." His advertising is mostly aimed at Americans and Canadians, apparently appealing to those of Scottish descent. However, the Scottish National Parliament (SNP) claims that the deeds issued are not worth the paper they are written on.

Improve Your Passwords

I had a recent conversation with a newsletter reader about passwords. The reader was asking about identity theft and the security of passwords. The person worried that a hacker could crack a password that consists of a family name or a pet's name or some similar word. I agree with her. Never use a single word or name to protect something you value.

Security experts will tell you to always use passwords that are non-words. Instead, all passwords should be lengthy and should also be a jumble of letters and numbers, such as:

iltstwan7daw

I've Been Ripped Off! Have You?

I have been ripped off, and so have a number of other genealogy authors. A sharp-eyed newsletter reader passed along a web site address that is in serious violation of copyrights. It seems that Genealogy, Hunt for Ancestors at http://www.targetdates.com is copying articles from this newsletter and other genealogy blogs. The articles are being posted on http://www.targetdates.com without permission of or credit to the original authors. It appears that the owner of Genealogy, Hunt for Ancestors hopes to generate a profit by attracting people to the site and then displaying Google ads to them.

If you write a genealogy blog, you might want to visit http://www.targetdates.com to see if your articles are being republished without permission.

MorphCorp Settles in the Case of Deceptive Genealogy "Books"

MorphCorp is a Denver-based company that for years has produced International (Surname) Family Yearbooks. Insert your name in place of (Surname). For instance, when publishing a book claiming to be about my family, they would call it the "International Eastman Family Yearbook." If publishing about the Clark family, they would call it the "International Clark Family Yearbook."

These so-called books were not worth the paper they were printed on. You can read the review of these books that I wrote eighteen months ago at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2004/07/international_s.html. Now Colorado' s Attorney General John W. Suther has gone after the company and stopped the scam.

Does This Genealogy Site Sell Your Information?

A newsletter reader posed a question this week:

The small historical society I belong to received the following email. Do you know anything about this group? I don't want to see us get hit by one of the genealogy scams.

In fact, I didn't know anything about the site at www.FamilyTrackers.com, so I decided to investigate.

Check Washing

This article has nothing to do with genealogy. However, it is a follow-up to an earlier article I wrote when someone questioned the safety of credit cards versus checks when making purchases online from an online genealogy vendor.

How would you like to hand someone a blank check? Pretty dumb, right? Well, you are doing just that if you send a check in the mail or hand a check to someone in a store.

Internet Explorer Flaw Now Rated as "Extremely Critical"

Here is another reason to never use Internet Explorer. The security-riddled web browser has now earned a very rare "Extremely Critical" advisory notice. Microsoft was notified of the problem in March 2005 but has done nothing to modify the program or fix the flaw. In the meantime, rip-off artists can steal information from your computer if you are using Internet Explorer.

Beware of "Your Family's Coat of Arms" Scams!

As the Christmas shopping season is upon us, perhaps it is time to remind people that there is no such thing as a "family" coat of arms. You will see ads on the web and in magazines as well as pushcart merchants in the malls selling this stuff. Yes, they will be happy to sell you an "authentic" reproduction of the Smith or other surname coat of arms, suitable for framing. They will also sell golf shirts embroidered with the same coat of arms or coffee cups with the same.

(Insert the sound of a loud, obnoxious buzzer here.)

Colorado State Attorney's Office files suit against Morphcorp

I have written about MorphCorp, Inc. and OurFamilyNewsletter.net a number of times. The company has been selling "family yearbooks" for years. They send advertisements for the "International [Surname] Family Yearbook" or similar titles. In this case, substitute your last name in place of "[Surname]." For instance, an advertisement sent to a person named Smith would peddle "The Smith Family Yearbook" while someone named Clark would receive an advertisement for "The Clark Family Yearbook."

You can read my most recent article at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2004/07/international_s.html

About a year ago the company added an online web site to their bag of tricks. You can see the site at http://www.ourfamilynewsletter.net.

Now Colorado State Attorney General John Suthers has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Morphcorp, as well as the company's president and general manager, Maxwell MacMaster, for alleged deceptive advertising and sales of "Family Yearbooks."

Fake E-mail from FBI or CIA is really a Worm

Both the FBI and Internet security companies have announced this week that there is a fake e-mail that looks like it is from the FBI and a similar fake e-mail appearing to be from the CIA going around which are really being sent by the Sober worm. (A worm is loosely similar to a virus: it infects your PC and does nasty things.) The e-mails include an attachment, which is, of course, the worm. If you open the attached file, your PC is immediately infected.

If you get an e-mail that claims to be from the FBI or the CIA, don't open it!

Uproar over Fake Family Trees Continues

As I first reported on this newsletter's web site on November 2, a new piece of software is now in use that creates thousands of web pages of bogus genealogy information. Now other news organizations are discovering this new problem, and the uproar is getting louder.

Generating Fake Family Trees Automatically

A new scam is on the Internet: a piece of software that will create bogus family trees to be uploaded to your web site. Why would anyone want to do that? The complete answer is a bit convoluted, but the short answer is to boost your web site higher in the search engine ratings so that gullible people will see the ads on your site. In fact, the program's advertising boasts that you can "create unique, non-duplicate content that millions of people search for, AND that neither humans nor search engines can tell is 'real' or not."

International (Surname) Family Yearbook from MORPHCORP

NOTE: This is an updated version of a story I first wrote in 2003. The company described apparently is still very active, according to recent reports. It seems appropriate to republish this information now.

A company in Colorado has been selling "family yearbooks" for years. They send advertisements for the "International [Surname] Family Yearbook" or similar titles. In this case, substitute your last name in place of "[Surname]." For instance, an advertisement sent to a person named Smith would be advertising "The Smith Family Yearbook" while someone named Clark would receive an advertisement for "The Clark Family Yearbook."

Identity Theft Hits Home at the FTC

Genealogists across the U.S. are encountering new problems in accessing public domain records. Various agencies are refusing to allow access to records, claiming problems with "identity theft." Now the problem will probably become worse.

Credit card theft and identity theft are trade-related crimes so the Federal agency most involved is the Federal Trade Commission. In fact, any detected attempts at identity theft should be reported to the FTC immediately. One recent victim of credit card information theft had no trouble finding the appropriate FTC office to report the crime. The victim is the head of the FTC.

Anyone Can Take Money From Your Checking Account

NOTE: This article is not genealogy-related. However, it describes a situation that I face frequently, as do many others who operate e-commerce web sites.

I often hear the cyber-myth that "it is dangerous to use your credit card on the web." In fact, the reverse is much more accurate: the web is probably the safest place in which to use a credit card. (For details, see my earlier article on this topic at http://www.eogn.com/archives/news0245.htm#SafetyofOnlineCredit.) Now we hear that use of a credit card on the web is much, much safer than sending a check in the mail. One of the better-known anti-scam web sites has shown how easy it is for anyone to steal money out of your checking account.

Another Scam with a Genealogy Twist

The Nigerian scams have been around for years. These are the e-mail messages you may receive from Nigeria or some other third-world country, claiming that someone seeks your assistance in moving a large amount of money out of the country. The claim is that you will be given a large percentage of the money, typically several million dollars, for helping move the money. There are several variations of this theme, one of which includes a genealogy twist.

That E-mail about Deceased Relatives in Nigeria

I have heard many stories about receiving unexpected e-mails. The usual story sounds something like this: A previously unknown member of your family has been killed in a car crash overseas. You are the only person left who could be related to the deceased, and you might be the sole inheritor of millions of dollars left in a bank account or a safety deposit box.

Another Genealogy-related Scam

Writing in the Spectrum, an online newspaper in St. George, Utah, Jennifer Weaver describes a number of the ways in which present-day scam artists operate. Several of the scams have been mentioned in this newsletter in times past, but one was new to me. Even worse, it involves the use of the FamilySearch.org online genealogy database operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.