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:

http://www.cellphoneregistry.com/
http://www.cisworldwide.com/
http://www.civilrecords.org/
http://www.courtrecords.org/
http://www.courtregistry.org/
http://www.criminalregistry.org/
http://www.federal-records.org/
http://www.governmentregistry.org/
http://www.instantbackgroundreport.com/
http://www.investigate123.com/
http://www.locatepeople.org/
http://www.phoneregistry.com/
http://www.repoautos.org/
http://www.reversegenie.com/
http://www.reversemobile.com/
http://www.reverserecords.org/
http://www.searchpublicrecords.org/
http://www.ssnrecords.org/
http://www.stateauctions.org/
http://www.stateregistry.org/
http://www.webinvestigator.org/
http://www.webstigate.com/

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