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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi all,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My Dad received this. I don't remember which
genealogical society LCGS is. I considered buying one of these
books.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ronda Howard</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=sanders922@msn.com href="mailto:sanders922@msn.com">Alice Sanders</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=sanders922@msn.com
href="mailto:sanders922@msn.com">sanders922@msn.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, November 28, 2005 8:10 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> LCGS FYI Lawsuit Against Morphcorp for Fake Family
Histories</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><SPAN
class=406535714-28112005><STRONG>Bill Mahoney sends the following to
share. An FYI warning was sent out earlier about these fake
histories. It is nice to know </STRONG></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><SPAN
class=406535714-28112005><STRONG>something may be done about the people
running this company. Let's wish Arapahoe County much success in
this.</STRONG></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><SPAN
class=406535714-28112005></SPAN></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">THE FOLLOWING IS
FROM THE </SPAN></FONT></B><B><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">DENVER</SPAN></FONT></B><B><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">
POST</SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">25 Nov 2005</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Arial size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">State Sues
Genealogy Company</SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The suit claims 150,000 people
nationwide were swindled out of $49.95 each when they bought a book with fake
family histories from Morphcorp of Denver.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">By Manny Gonzales </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Denver</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> Post Staff
Writer </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">For $49.95, people who bought
genealogical "yearbooks" from a Denver-based company got the same family coat of
arms, the same family recipes and even the same family jokes, according to a
lawsuit filed Wednesday. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">And it was a lucrative scam that
swindled 150,000 people nationwide who bought into fake family histories,
according to the civil suit filed by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers.
</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The suit, filed in Arapahoe County
District Court against Maxwell MacMaster and his company, Morph corp LLC, seeks
to cease the operation and penalize him up to $2,000 per book sold, which could
amount to $300 million. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"This is a guy who has been
exploiting a natural human emotion, a curiosity about our family history . and
he made a lot of money doing it," Suthers said. "People got a standard book that
really reflects no individual genealogical research. The books come with a
family (crest), but if your surname is Jones it would be the same (crest) used
if your last name was Smith." </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">MacMaster, who has residences listed
in </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Denver</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> and
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Kailua</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">, </SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Hawaii</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">, was contacted about
the suit but said he had not read the specific allegations and declined to
comment. His lawyer could not be reached for comment. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Aurora</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> resident Lynette Dahl
is one of 21 alleged victims in </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Colorado</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">. Dahl said
her family purchased a yearbook a couple of years ago in hopes of learning more
about where she came from, but what she got was "generic." </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"They make it sound like you're
going to get all this great information, but you get it and it's generic,
fill-in-the-blanks stuff," Dahl, 42, said. "The book had a coat of arms for my
family, supposedly. But when I opened it, immediately I could tell this was some
kind of cruel joke." </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Dahl said that after numerous
attempts to reach the company and after filing complaints of unfair business
practices, she finally was refunded her money from Morphcorp. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">According to the suit, MacMaster
advertised in magazines and sent out mailings offering a yearbook detailing
"2,000 years" of family history. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The suit claims MacMaster and his
then-wife made various false and misleading statements in direct-mail
advertising claiming that they shared the same last name of the consumer
targeted by the flier. The suit also alleges that Morphcorp engaged in improper
pricing practices. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The company mailed out 250,000
fliers a month, the suit claims, and targeted mostly people over the age of 60.
</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The books sold contained much of the
same information, including "family jokes and recipes," and family pictures
appear in each yearbook regardless of the surname of the consumer, the suit
claims. There were some variations, Suthers said. For a German surname, the
books contained the same German family recipes and jokes. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Because jokes were the same in many
of the yearbooks, some Jewish customers were offended when their families were
referenced as being Catholic, the suit claims. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">It's the second time MacMaster has
gotten into hot water for an alleged genealogy scam. In 1996 he signed an
assurance as president of a company called Mountain Pacific News Service to
cease operations. Suthers hopes to prove MacMaster violated the agreement, which
would be another violation of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.
</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The attorney general has been
investigating the company for about a year, since complaints were submitted to
the Better Business Bureau. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"As these complaints roll in, it's
almost comical how this guy would try to fool people," Suthers said. "Anyone
with any sophistication almost immediately would identify the yearbook as
boilerplate." </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be
reached at 303-820-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com. </SPAN></FONT></P>
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