kidz.idz- Is this legit or did I get scammed out of $22?

[nofeea]

While I was shopping today, I was invited to sign up for a program called "kids.idz". Supposedly, you fill out an enrollment form and attach a picture of your child, then send it in and you get back two ID cards and an electronic ID card that can be plugged into any police car data base. You get new, updated cards every year. It was a really hard sell and they were very heavy on the topic of child abductions. It was only $20 to sign up (22 with tax ;)) so I did it but I do wonder how legit it is. I haven't sent in the forms yet. Anyone know anything about this organization? (They do have a web site- www.kidzidz.com)

[cara1]

I've never heard of it, but I think I'd be reluctant to send all that info WITH a picture to anyone...

[flagger]

Here is the information about the owner of the URL:

Domain Name.......... kidzidz.com
Creation Date........ 2002-06-04
Registration Date.... 2002-06-04
Expiry Date.......... 2005-06-04
Organisation Name.... Event Marketing International
Organisation Address. 1055 Westlakes Drive, Suite 300
Organisation Address. Berwyn
Organisation Address. 19312
Organisation Address. PA
Organisation Address. UNITED STATES

Admin Name........... Michael Pouls
Admin Address........ 1055 Westlakes Drive, Suite 300
Admin Address........ Berwyn
Admin Address........ 19312
Admin Address........ PA
Admin Address........ UNITED STATES
Admin Email.......... [email protected]
Admin Phone.......... 610-644-7600

Tech Name............ Michael Pouls
Tech Address......... 1055 Westlakes Drive, Suite 300
Tech Address......... Berwyn
Tech Address......... 19312
Tech Address......... PA
Tech Address......... UNITED STATES
Tech Email........... [email protected]
Tech Phone........... 610-644-7600
Name Server.......... NS1.PRACTICALNETWORKSECURITY.COM
Name Server.......... SHAOLIN.PRACTICALNETWORKSECURITY.COM
Name Server.......... NS4.PRACTICALNETWORKSECURITY.COM

Seeing something in that called Event Marketing, Intl. com in that information raises my hackles that this is nothing more than a scam to frighten parents into parting with their money. Just as an FYI, even though last year there seemed to be a child abduction every week, there were actually less last year than in past years.

I would NOT send in the forms and the picture and if you paid with a credit card, I would try to do a back-charge. Also if you were solicited as opposed to going into a car dealership to buy a car, in some states you have 72 hours to change your mind.

[flagger]

Based on information on this page: http://user973394.wx14.registeredsite.com/become.html it almost sounds like MLM.

I also think this sounds interesting:

The Kidz•Idz Doctor's Office Program offers an excellent way for doctors and their staff to earn $25,000 annually while providing Safety Basics Kits to their patients. These kits come pre-packaged with Kidz•Idz Enrollment Forms, DNA Kits and other valuable resources designed to make learning about safety simple and fun.

Doctors are a trusted resource when it comes to health concerns and other important life issues. Our market research indicates that 9 out of 10 parents enrolled their children after being presented with the benefits of the Kidz•Idz Program in a doctor's office setting.

This smells to me like they are more interesting in making a quick buck than in actually protecting children.

[Torey]

Thank you for finding out this info. I think these people have been standing outside my grocery store several times the past few weeks and everytime I ignored them I felt guilty. I was thinking "am I a bad parent because I don't get one of these ID kits?" Now I feel so much better!

[jd11365]

Wow Flagger! How did you get all that info?

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
5/1/03

[lukkykatt]

Just wanted to mention that I was at TRU today, and they have a sign saying that you can get an id there for free. Don't know if there is any fine print or not, but it may be a better alternative for anyone who is interested.

[flagger]

>Wow Flagger! How did you get all that info?
>
>Jamie

Anyone can go to any of the online domain name registries to locate this information. I used www.netsol.com and clicked on WHOIS. You have to enter in a 6-7 combination of numbers that is displayed as a graphic to view this information. (This is to slowdown automated web-crawlers and spammers from harvesting such information).

The ICANN which controls the issuance of domain names requires that this information be made available to anyone. Of course with some registries like www.godaddy.com you can register by an anonymous proxy service (extra fee) to keep someone from finding out personal information.

HTH

[nofeea]

Thank you, Flagger! I really appreciate all the research and info! They were set up at a table outside the supermarket-apparently all week, but they didn't get me until Thursday. I should have been more suspicious about the hard-sell approach, but I thought maybe they were actually concerned for children... (silly me...) They also claimed to have the support of other organizations which I had heard of (ie. The Starlight Foundation...) I guess I should at least feel better that I was suspicious enough to post here before sending anything in... Thanks.

[starrynight]

TRU and BRU do this same thing for free a few times a year and from what I heard they will also update it for free with a new picture and height/weight changes. I have never gotten one for my kids because I just don't like giving out their fingerprints and pictures etc to anyone, paranoid I guess LOL. Also most police/firedepartments will do these id kits for free, here they do it once a year at the mall. Definitly sounds like a scam, especially when other places do it free.