November/December 2014 Volume 4, Issue 7. Inside This Issue

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1 Forensic Genealogy News November/December 2014 Volume 4, Issue 7 Published bimonthly by the: COUNCIL FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF FORENSIC GENEALOGY c/o Wanda Smith, P.O. Box Plano, TX info@forensicgenealogists.org Progressive Leadership in the Field of Forensic Genealogy CAFG 2014 Board Members President Leslie Lawson Vice President Michael Ramage, JD, CG Secretary Wanda Smith, JD Treasurer Juli Whittaker Mentor Program Coordinator Cathi Desmarais, CG Mentor Program Coordinator Amber Goodpaster Tauscher Director at Large Kelvin Meyers Newsletter Editor Bethany Waterbury Limited Seats Are Still Available for the 2015 FGI The Forensic Genealogy Institute (FGI) is a three-day intensive learning experience that will be held March 2015 at the Wyndham Hotel Love Field in Dallas, Texas. Seats are extremely limited for the two brand-new, concurrent, 20-hour courses: Forensic Genealogy Master Practicum: A hands-on learning experience in researching various types of forensic cases, working with clients, writing forensic reports, and participating in a mock trial. Advanced Genetic Genealogy and Unknown- Parentage Cases: Application of DNA and traditional genealogical research to uncovering the genetic heritage of individuals with unknown parentage. Full details about each course as well as faculty biographies are available online at The cost of the institute is $445. To register, please go to: We look forward to seeing you at the Institute! Inside This Issue 1 FGI Update 2-4 Overcoming the Scammer Fear 4 Got the Source Citation Blues? 5 Members in the News

2 Forensic Genealogy News Nov/Dec 2014 Volume 4, Issue 7 Page 2 Overcoming the Scammer Fear By Dee Dee King, CG Many cases in the field of forensic genealogy involve living people. We research and collect various degrees of personal information on those living people. It is inevitable that we will encounter some who believe we are scammers. These people may refuse to respond to our attempts to contact them, may refuse to confirm any family relationships, and possibly refuse to even confirm their contact information. How do you overcome the scammer fear? The fear seems reasonable. We ve all been exposed to scams via the Internet and telephone - the two methods of contact we utilize most often in our work. Transparency has been the one quality that has worked best for my forensic genealogy business for over ten years. This transparency should be in place before we ever contact the subject. Many genealogists rely exclusively on cell phone service, foregoing the landline telephone. However, a business telephone landline does have benefits. The business name is displayed on caller ID systems. Most scam calls come from an unknown, unidentified, or blocked number. Internet search engines will match the telephone number to the business. The number will probably appear in yellow page-style print and online publications. The person may call telephone 411-information to verify the telephone number of the business. This type of very public transparency may help convince the doubter that the business, and thus the contact, is legitimate. A website is a must in this field, and an effective website is critical. The site should clearly define the type of work that you do and the types of clients for whom you work. It is not enough to say that you are a forensic genealogist and work on cases with legal implications. The site should include your professional affiliations, with links to the independent websites of those organizations or credentialing bodies. Links to independent sites with your biographical information are very important to demonstrate that your business information is included in organizations and sites independent of your control. The Association of Professional Genealogist, the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists, and the Board of Certification of Genealogists provide opportunities to present information about your education, training, credentials, and services. Ensure that your biographies listed with these organizations are consistent with your own website. Continued on page 3

3 Forensic Genealogy News Nov/Dec 2014 Volume 4, Issue 7 Page 3 Overcoming the Scammer Fear, continued Continued from page 2 Develop a privacy policy and have a link to it on your webpage. My policy states that I never collect private information such as Social Security Numbers (SSN), driver license numbers, and certainly not financial or credit card information. My policy includes basics of name, mailing address and telephone number, and possibly address. Sometimes attorneys or clients do request identification numbers. My response is that my service will collect the contact information for the subject, but the collection of SSN or driver license numbers would be the responsibility of the client. Courts and clerks across the country are directing that documents filed for public access not include SSN or driver license numbers. The staff must redact that information. We should visit with our clients and determine if our reports should include that information. My written reports do not. It is important to state that no one in your business will ever ask for any financial information, including credit card numbers. If you do not work on contingency, it is important to include that message. The policy may strongly state that no one in your business will ever request money from those being researched for a legal case. The privacy policy might also include that you only collect information from public sources, not from restricted sources such as credit bureaus and other restricted databases. The policy should include a statement that some cases do require proof of family connections. A birth certificate or other legal documentation may be required. If the subject objects to providing those documents to me, I make suitable arrangements with the attorney in the case. Transparency is especially important when making first contact. Pre-texting, the use of false information, even little white lies, to gain access to the subject is illegal in every state. Your initial contact should include your name, business name, and information about the case. It is your responsibility to have a clear understanding with your client about what may be shared with the research subject. Have the client define who may be contacted to verify the legitimacy of your work. If your case has been assigned a case number, that and the court information should be available to the research subject. Continued on page 4

4 Forensic Genealogy News Nov/Dec 2014 Volume 4, Issue 7 Page 4 Overcoming the Scammer Fear, continued Continued from page 3 Consider adding a signature to your that includes your full business name and contact information, including a link to your website. If you use social media as the initial contact, provide enough information and links to Internet connections so that the subject can verify your information before responding. Despite our best efforts, some people will never overcome their suspicions that we are attempting to initiate a scam or some harmful act. Our best presentation of honesty and transparency can go a long way in alleviating those concerns. Got the Source Citation Blues? Do you get bogged down with your reports trying to get your source citations done? Want to learn some practical shortcuts? Help is at hand! At next year s Master Practicum, Cathi Desmarais, CG and Amber Tauscher will be teaching an instructive module on using Word macros for source citations. When used in conjunction with the report and affidavit templates that will be taught in another module, you ll be saving countless hours when you put these tips and techniques to work in your practice. Only five seats are left in the Master Practicum as of this writing, so sign up now! Register here: CAFG Members enjoyed the FGS conference in Texas this past August. From left to right: Vicki Young, Dave Smith, Cathi Desmarais, Kelvin Meyers, Polly Kimmitt, Helen Daglas, Master Practicum: Putting the Practical into Practice

5 Forensic Genealogy News Nov/Dec 2014 Volume 4, Issue 7 Page 5 Members in the News Kelvin Meyers, will be teaching two modules of Forensic Genealogy in the Genealogy as a Profession course at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) at Samford University in June He will also be presenting four sessions at the Ohio Genealogical Society Conference in April 2015: Introduction to Forensic Genealogy Whose Estate is it Anyway? (forensic genealogy) The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Could Rule the World (finding women) Who Cares Who the Neighbors Are, You Do! That s Who! (Cluster/FAN research) Melanie D. Holtz, CG, and Melissa Johnson will be teaching a course entitled Genealogical Applications of Dual Citizenship by Descent May 2-9, 2015 through the new Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research ( Tina Sansone has partnered with Sheri McNeil Savory to cohost on LA Talk Radio s Internet talk show, A Savory Spotlight. Tina is seeking guests to be on the show; if interested, please contact her at telltina@researchdnawriters.com. The show can be found at: Tina would love to help promote your business, books, products, etc. She is also looking for sponsors for the show. Janice Sellers has been invited to give two talks at the first Genealogy Fair offered by the Santa Rosa Family Search Center and Sonoma County Genealogical Society. She will speak on "Grandma, Who Are You?: Finding the Maiden Names in Your Family Tree" and "Reconstructing a Family When You Start with Almost Nothing: A Case Study." She also been asked to give a presentation on "Immigration and Naturalization Records" for the Silicon Valley Reads program of the Santa Clara City Public Library: Wanda Smith Kearns will be presenting GGG! Joining the Three Gs: Geography, Genealogy & GPS, to the Collin County Genealogical Society on January 14, In this lecture, Wanda will explain how to create powerful proof arguments through the study of geography and land records in combination with genealogical records. Wanda is also presenting two-hour mapping workshops during January and February in Plano, Texas. Find the schedule at Workshops at: ProfessionalAncestryResearch.com *Certified Genealogist (CG) is a service mark (sm) of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, conferred to associates who consistently meet ethical and competency standards in accord with peer-reviewed evaluations every five years; the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.