Is ancestry.co.uk Safe?

This site first requires one to sign up with an email address and then uses bait-and-switch tactics, demanding money after they show search returns, as if they have found your family information, when in fact, there are many false hits and you will have to pay first before determining how many false leads there are. They also employ the book-fo-the-month-club tactics of using automatically reoccurring charges on a credit card unless you cancel their "free trial" before the trial period is over and even then there are numerous reports of them processing billing even after cancellation. As of 2009, ***** also became affiliated with "mylife.com" – a well-known scam site. Pay a genealogical service instead of wasting your money on this untrustworthy outfit. See: *****

After finally being persuaded to do some genealogy I bought Family Tree Maker and got three months free access to Ancestory.co.uk, but quickly found that the recommended 'hints' often required upgrading to a 'better' package. However the site is easy to use and the family tree comes together quickly, though the information provided is often accessible elsewhere for free. Particulary useful are the links to other members family trees who are researching the same people and I have regained touch with a couple of long lost relatives through this feature. Good access to Census data in the UK between 1851 and 1911 but the search facility could be improved.