"Do you have any famous relatives? Do you want some?"
That is how a new site - Fake Genealogy - presents itself to new users.
The internet is known for being a fertile ground for con artists and crooks.
But the new phenomenon of faking lineages is risking more than just your money - it risks our past and future.
With fraudulent databases flooding the internet, novice genealogists may find their researches imprecise or even down right wrong.
This is infuriating, considering the tremendous efforts people put on their research.
In earlier decades, it was not uncommon for people to pay for fake lineages that prove that they are related to different respected, rich and even royal families, but this behavior belongs in the past.
Sadly, predators recognize genealogy's growing popularity and are moving to take advantage of that by selling bogus genealogy material, all for the purpose for making easy money.
Stopping sites like this is hard, almost impossible. Make sure to verify your sources as best as you can, and hope you won't come across a bogus family tree.
3 comments:
I have no personal or business connection to the web site you are talking about here, but I wanted to point out that your opinion of fakegenealogy.com is not based on the reality of their business.
At someone's request, Fake Genealogy (www.fakegenealogy.com) prints out a certificate that says you are related to someone famous. That is ALL they do. You can put whomever you wish on the certificate. You could have a signed certificate of relation to Luke Skywalker if you wanted!
The SillyServices company (www.sillyservices.com) has a lot of fun things, like a Reincarnation Directory and an Intergalactic Planet Registry.
If you are really concerned about fake compiled genealogies, put the focus on people who actually create fake compiled genealogies, not people who create certificates that are obviously meant to be funny.
For information about real fake families, see Dick Eastman's blog from 2005 titled "Generating Fake Family Trees Automatically."
Hi, I own FakeGenealogy.com and all of the sillyservices.com and it is strictly meant to be humorous.
The company name is silly services and the certificates say that on them and they are just meant to be funny.
I mean no disrespect to real genealogists (I know several) but I am upset that you would accuse me of a wrong doing without actually reading through the site which was established along with the other silly services to make fun of the con artists.
I didn't build these sites to rake in the money but I enjoy being able to bring a smile while making fun of serious cons.
(BTW Paul we won't make you related to Luke Skywalker he is is under copyright which we also respect).
Please look again at the site and then decide if you want to point a finger at me.
I have also heard about it. I have my Free Family Tree website.
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