State sues genealogy company

YEARBOOKS' CALLED A SCAM

Ed Blincoe sent me this item from the Denver Post of 23 November. It reported that a company Morphcorp of Denver was accused of swindling some 150,000 people when they bought a book with fake family histories. Priced at US$49.95 the book purported to contain ‘2,000 years of family history, a family coat of arms, family recipes’, and so on. Some buyers complained that the contents were the same if the name was Smith or Jones. If proven, this could be one of the worst scams perpetrated against family history buffs.

This case reminded me of the mailshots I and others had received promoting The Great Book of Blencowes or Blincows or similar title. In fairness, some buyers were satisfied with their purchase: they received a book with a correct coat of arms, and a brief history of the early days of the clan. However, the main text comprised family names extracted from international telephone directories.

One promotion sticks in my memory: it promised me biographies of distinguished family members such as well-known businessman Ardis Blenko - Ardis was the much-loved mother of Walt and Don Blenko who died in 1996 at the age of ninety-seven! It's the old story, let buyer beware!