Many people will buy into pretty much anything on the net. I have
found many scam. This one, however, I have to write a page about
it. It costs $25 to $50 to do a document search. Document that is
free, but usually not accessible because it is in some archive in
another state if not another country. So, hey! $50 would be quite
cheap if you think of it... That is, if the search was real.
So? How does this one work? I look for my marriage, baby, divorce,
death in San Francisco, California. Since none of that happened
there for me in San Francisco, it could be someone else with my
name... Well. The fact is that I can put any weird name in there,
and each time, Bingo! that person (who?!) has been there,
done that, and stuff.
Okay, the URL was: http://vitalrecords.us.com from Vital Records
and all rights are reserved for their website. Good thing, otherwise
I'd get myself a copy. Arf! Arf!
Note: As of Nov 9, 2008, that site does
not exist anymore. There is one, http://www.vitalrec.com, that looks
very much the same. At least, this one costs $2.95/mo, not $50 per
search. And it looks fine, contrary to the previous one that looked
really dodgy.
Now, how can you see that you will get in trouble (and no money back) if
the search somehow does not work? Well... Click on Contact, you only
get an email address. Click on Privacy and you see some blah
with no way of contacting whomever in case there is a litigation, click on
Login and you end up on a different website (how even weirder!)
That new website is http://www.cisworldwide.com/ which does not
in anyway sound like Vital Records.
That page shows a Verisign Secured logo which does not link to Verisign
for one thing and the page is NOT secure (notice the http:... instead
of httpS:...) Man... I'm sorry for the people who get caught in these
scams. Note that now the Verisign logo is gone.
This 2nd site is very similar to the first. No contact information of
any kind. However, they have this link to an affiliate program... hmmm
now I'll question that site too! Oh! And there is a Fax number. That's
just in case you wanted to opt out of the scam. Sorry, I mean of the
spam that the scammers will send you. You know... you have to send
them your Full Name + Aliases (in case you're known as Al Capone or
something,) Date of Birth, any and all addresses you ever lived at,
a phone number (weird, not all of them?!), your email address (ha!
that's weird too, not all of them???) Well... who knows, that fax
number may even work. But let's try to make sure... Ha! That's a
fax machine alright. Too bad I don't talk fax language. He! he!
Feel free to try it, it's a free phone number: 1-877-471-6992.
Well, free for you to call that is... 9-)
Well... I signalled the page to Verisign
since it uses their logo illegally, you know. We'll see if something
happens. He! He! And now the logo is gone so maybe they act on that
email. I did not get any notification back though.
Update: I checked today (Aug 30, 2008) and now the credit card is
taken using ClickBank. Even though I do not like ClickBank myself,
it is actually safe. So something did happen...
Below you will find the whois at the time I was looking at these
pages: whois vitalrecords.us.com whois cisworldwide.com
Notice that the two sites are held by different entities. Both
are probably fake addresses anyway. So don't bother whatever
about them. (Actually, I thought PO Box were forbidden for the
primary address... but anyway. No one verifies that!)
Domain Name: vitalrecords.us.com
Registrant: Modeling Group
Administrative Contact:
Areg Sakanyan (H304424) aregsakanyan@yahoo.com
Modeling Group
12 Riverside st. apt. 1-1, Watertown MA
02472
US
Tel. 857-891-0157
Technical Contact:
Areg Sakanyan (H304425) aregsakanyan@yahoo.com'
Modeling Group
12 Riverside st. apt. 1-1, Watertown MA
02472
US
Tel. 857-891-0157
Billing Contact:
Accounts Department (H87003) support@registerapi.com
Registerapi
8100 NE Parkway Drive, Suite 300
Vancouver WA
98662
US
Tel. 1 (360) 449-5942
Fax 1 (360) 397 1966
Record created on: 01 May 2007
Record expires on: 01 May 2009
Status: Live
Domain servers in listed order:
NS2.SIMPLECOM.NET 216.77.84.8
NS1.SIMPLECOM.NET 208.62.162.3
COBRA.SIMPLECOM.NET 208.62.162.2
Domain Name: CISWORLDWIDE.COM
Registrar: DSTR ACQUISITION. I, LLC DBA 000DOMAINS.COM
Whois Server: whois.000domains.com
Referral URL: http://www.000domains.com
Name Server: COBRA.SIMPLECOM.NET
Name Server: NS1.SIMPLECOM.NET
Name Server: NS2.SIMPLECOM.NET
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 30-dec-2005
Creation Date: 30-dec-2005
Expiration Date: 30-dec-2007
Domain Services Provided By:
000domains, support@000domains.com
http://www.000domains.com
Registrant:
c/o CISWORLDWIDE.COM
P.O. Box 821650
Vancouver, WA 98682
US
Registrar: 000DOM
Domain Name: CISWORLDWIDE.COM
Created on: 29-DEC-05
Expires on: 30-DEC-07
Last Updated on: 21-SEP-07
Administrative Contact:
CISWORLDWIDE.COMtOpgEm@privacypost.com
c/o CISWORLDWIDE.COM
P.O. Box 821650
Vancouver, WA 98682
US
+1.360-449-5933
Technical Contact:
CISWORLDWIDE.COMGwnyOU@privacypost.com
c/o CISWORLDWIDE.COM
P.O. Box 821650
Vancouver, WA 98682
US
+1.360-449-5933
Domain servers in listed order:
COBRA.SIMPLECOM.NET
NS1.SIMPLECOM.NET
NS2.SIMPLECOM.NET
Okay... so they do want to make money which makes sense. Since
like everyone else, they like to cash money. Here we are! I
click on the "Become an Affiliate" link. I arrive on a site with
an incredible cash opportunity and I think: I wonder who would
want to accept such a company? Well! Look at that! That's the
exact same company. Makes sense actually. Most companies do
that. But not under another name claiming that you could make
$100,000+ (ho no... sorry... today it's only $94,201.) Well,
you know what. Maybe their affiliate #1 has made that much money.
Maybe that's time for him or her to think about the legal aspect
of that company too...
Domain Services Provided By:
000domains, support@000domains.com
http://www.000domains.com
Registrant:
c/o PROFESSIONALCASH.COM
P.O. Box 821650
Vancouver, WA 98682
US
Registrar: 000DOM
Domain Name: PROFESSIONALCASH.COM
Created on: 21-JUN-01
Expires on: 21-JUN-08
Last Updated on: 23-JUL-07
Administrative Contact:
PROFESSIONALCASH.COM03EhHZ@privacypost.com
c/o PROFESSIONALCASH.COM
P.O. Box 821650
Vancouver, WA 98682
US
+1.360-449-5933
Technical Contact:
PROFESSIONALCASH.COMfD1qrP@privacypost.com
c/o PROFESSIONALCASH.COM
P.O. Box 821650
Vancouver, WA 98682
US
+1.360-449-5933
Domain servers in listed order:
NS2.SIMPLECOM.NET
COBRA.SIMPLECOM.NET
NS1.SIMPLECOM.NET
So... Good good. I follow the link at the top named "Sites".
Thinking that this site offers different sites from different
companies and such. Sure enough! The first few: all the same!
About legal issue and how to solve them. A little below, search
for data, like the 1st website we've found, wow! A complete list.
Cool! So there are many scammers out there, right? Hmmmm... not
really! Look here... another whois from... CIS Worldwide. Good
one. He! He! And still with 000domains.com
Domain ID:D107274654-LROR
Domain Name:REVERSERECORDS.ORG
Created On:24-Aug-2005 23:55:10 UTC
Last Updated On:23-Jul-2007 21:19:42 UTC
Expiration Date:24-Aug-2008 23:55:10 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:000Domains, LLC (R69-LROR)
Status:CLIENT DELETE PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT UPDATE PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:DOT-1BNB7Z6K3WSZ
Registrant Name:CIS Worldwide
Registrant Organization:CIS Worldwide
Registrant Street1:4915 Bathurst St. Unit # 209-107
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Toronto
Registrant State/Province:ON
Registrant Postal Code:M2R 1X9
Registrant Country:CA
Registrant Phone:+1.8665324766
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:cisworldwide@yahoo.com
Admin ID:DOT-C5TEDEX1MEPN
Admin Name:CIS Worldwide
Admin Organization:CIS Worldwide
Admin Street1:4915 Bathurst St. Unit # 209-107
Admin Street2:
Admin Street3:
Admin City:Toronto
Admin State/Province:ON
Admin Postal Code:M2R 1X9
Admin Country:CA
Admin Phone:+1.8665324766
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:cisworldwide@yahoo.com
Tech ID:DOT-3DJ0D2QXJW00
Tech Name:CIS Worldwide
Tech Organization:CIS Worldwide
Tech Street1:4915 Bathurst St. Unit # 209-107
Tech Street2:
Tech Street3:
Tech City:Toronto
Tech State/Province:ON
Tech Postal Code:M2R 1X9
Tech Country:CA
Tech Phone:+1.8665324766
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech FAX:
Tech FAX Ext.:
Tech Email:cisworldwide@yahoo.com
Name Server:COBRA.SIMPLECOM.NET
Name Server:NS2.SIMPLECOM.NET
Name Server:NS1.SIMPLECOM.NET
And all the sites have the exact same trouble: not secure,
no address, no phone number. Now, on that site
(Here http://www.reverserecords.org for those who are not
following anymore) there is a link called: "Business Users".
Funny. It takes you back to CIS Stuff and it includes pictures
of bad guys with handcuffs and stuff. I suppose these guys
are attorney and they'll know how to get out of it in case
there were to be a problem for them.
And yes, all the super many sites presented there are all
scams. All from the same company. And a while later some
people emailed me and so I could add a few more. It's growing!
Here's a semi-complete list:
I would think that the 1st website (http://vitalrecords.us.com) is
some unaware affiliate... Hopefully, he will be fine if that's the
case.
Now, some of the records place the company in Canada. Is there
some sort of protection between the US and Canada? If someone from
Canada steals US citizens, is there something we can do!? Probably
not for $50.
Domain ID:D148029209-LROR
Domain Name:FEDERAL-RECORDS.ORG
Created On:07-Jun-2007 07:07:04 UTC
Last Updated On:07-Aug-2007 03:56:58 UTC
Expiration Date:07-Jun-2009 07:07:04 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:000Domains, LLC (R69-LROR)
Status:CLIENT DELETE PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT UPDATE PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:DOT-TF10J8RAULEU
Registrant Name:CIS Worldwide
Registrant Organization:CIS Worldwide
Registrant Street1:4915 Bathurst St. Unit # 209-107
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Toronto
Registrant State/Province:ON
Registrant Postal Code:M2R 1X9
Registrant Country:CA
Registrant Phone:+1.8665324766
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:cisworldwide@yahoo.com
Admin ID:DOT-G3ZTC2CPKB8I
Admin Name:CIS Worldwide
Admin Organization:CIS Worldwide
Admin Street1:4915 Bathurst St. Unit # 209-107
Admin Street2:
Admin Street3:
Admin City:Toronto
Admin State/Province:ON
Admin Postal Code:M2R 1X9
Admin Country:CA
Admin Phone:+1.8665324766
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:cisworldwide@yahoo.com
Tech ID:DOT-4BJRS1J4Y8CP
Tech Name:CIS Worldwide
Tech Organization:CIS Worldwide
Tech Street1:4915 Bathurst St. Unit # 209-107
Tech Street2:
Tech Street3:
Tech City:Toronto
Tech State/Province:ON
Tech Postal Code:M2R 1X9
Tech Country:CA
Tech Phone:+1.8665324766
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech FAX:
Tech FAX Ext.:
Tech Email:cisworldwide@yahoo.com
Name Server:COBRA.SIMPLECOM.NET
Name Server:NS2.SIMPLECOM.NET
Name Server:NS1.SIMPLECOM.NET