Power of WHOIS-powerful database to keep you safe online!

The WHOIS database is a powerful tool to keeping you safe online. We teach you how and why.

When it comes to free useful tools you can use to find out if a dodgy looking scheme is indeed a scam, search engines like Google are very useful - but often overlooked is the extremely valuable WHOIS feature.

The WHOIS feature is a vast database that stores basic information on every website out there. Every website has information stored on it like personal information, registration dates, host location and SEO scores. What most of it means will be lost on many people but that’s okay, it’s only a couple of things you need to look at to determine if a website is pulling one over your eyes.

Lets take an example – a fake job offer you get by email for a "reputable" finance company offering you a position in their company. 

Maybe something doesn’t quite sit right with the offer – maybe the pay is too high or the job description smells fishy…?

You can do a Google search to see if the website has been in trouble before, but sometimes these fake job offer scams can go unnoticed for months. The website homepage will give a history of the company, explaining how it was founded years ago in the States or Europe (the scammers want to make it sound legitimate) and how they have a good reputation. 

Pop over to the WHOIS website, at http://whois.domaintools.com and type in the website address, and take a look at two things – 

IP Location and Registration Date. Does it match up with the companies history on the website?
Often it won’t. For example we had one fake job offer in out inbox from a company that was apparently founded in 1990 in New York. The WHOIS information however showed the website was registered in 2009 (only 3 months prior) and the IP location of the host was in China. From this we deduced 100% that the job offer was a scam.

WHOIS information can be valuable. Hiding personal information from it is easy, but hiding locations and registration dates is impossible. Don’t forget WHOIS. It can be pretty useful.