Paying for Free Information
We received another e-mail on March 6, 2001 claiming, "FamilyDiscovery.com will give you all the information you could
possibly search for in a lifetime as we do add more records daily
covering all 50 US States and Most Countries Overseas."
Date: Tuesday, March 06, 2001 2:26 AM
Subject: Thanks for your continued help Genealogist....
Hi Fellow Genealogist:
We had contacted you previously to to let you know that
we need your help with some of our genealogical records.
We still need your help.
Upon checking out the site, we found an interesting statement on their registration page: "This is merely a search
engine that takes you directly to the information skipping all the time
consuming steps. This page does not necessarily contain a COMPLETE list of all online
information, but merely for which records have been currently located online
to compile this genealogical search engine."
Also, under their terms and conditions they state "You agree we are not selling nor claiming right to information we are merely providing a service in which the information is more easily accessible."
And (always a favorite) "All Transactions are final no refunds will be given."
From what we can tell, this site is charging people to search publicly
available information that they have simply indexed. There is no indication that
they obtain permission for the privilege of indexing other peoples' works, nor
is there any mention that the original transcribers receive any of their proceeds.
Family Discovery
2232 Linden Drive SE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
Advisory
Do NOT subscribe to this service. ALSO, the contact for the domain FamilyDiscovery.com (Abodeely, Elias) is also
listed under GenSeeker.com, so please use both sites with caution.
GenSeeker
348 Garden Drive SE
Cedar Rapids , IA 52403
Share Your Experience
If you fell victim to this scam, please share your experience to help others
avoid making the same mistake.
File a Complaint Now!
Return to The Genealogy Watch List