WHOIS data records who registered a domain, when, through which registrar, and often with what contact information. It takes 30 seconds to check and can reveal critical legitimacy information.
Checking a website? IsThisAScam.to includes WHOIS analysis in its automated 6-layer scan.
WHOIS Lookup Tools
whois.domaintools.com, who.is, lookup.icann.org, whois.com. On Mac/Linux: whois example.com in terminal.
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Key Fields
- Registrar: Company where domain was registered
- Creation Date: When first registered (critical trust signal)
- Expiration Date: Multi-year registration = more investment. 1-year for scam domains.
- Registrant Info: Name, organization, address. Should match the website's claimed identity.
Privacy Proxies
Many records show "REDACTED FOR PRIVACY." Legal and common (GDPR). A privacy proxy alone is not a red flag, but it removes a verification avenue. Context matters.
Red Flags
- Registrant does not match site's claims
- Free email (Gmail/Yahoo) for a corporate site
- Recently created + 1-year registration
- Registrant name has zero Google results
- Dozens of recently registered domains under same email = scam network
Advanced Techniques
Historical WHOIS (DomainTools), reverse WHOIS (search by registrant), DNS record analysis alongside WHOIS.
Example
premium-electronics-shop.com: Created 12 days ago, budget registrar, 1-year registration, privacy proxy, default nameservers. Combined with 85% below retail prices = confirmed scam.
See SSL certificates and online store verification.
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