Sticking with the big brands is often a very effective way of establishing instant trust. How many times have you paid a bit more for something just for the secure feeling that big brand provides. However, the big brands will invariably design their product/service range around their ability to provide in a way which fits their business model and this can often restrict the options for the customer. In fact – in the domain registration and web hosting business, some of the really big brands don’t even do it that well.
The biggest challenge with using less known brands is establishing trust – there are a number of checks which can be done to mitigate the risk of paying for a product or service which does not materialise, but the first simple check is to read the company information on the website and get on a whois site or app and check when the website domain name was registered.
If the website is representing the company as having been in business for a number of years and the domain was registered a few months ago – alarm bells should start ringing.
Scammers will generally not utilise domain names for which the purchase information leads back to them. Once a scam is exposed the police will contact the registrar and obtain registrant details. Once the registrar is contacted – the domain name will likely be removed from service, as illegal activity is in breech of any acceptable use policy. Hence, domain names used for scamming rarely reach a significant age. Of course the business could be legitimate and may have rebranded – however, in todays modern world that approach is risky.
However, if an organisation claims to have been in business for decades and the domain was first registered decades ago – then the story becomes more credible.
To check the age of a domain name – enter it below and click check. Then click whois. You will not only be able to see the created date, depending on the whois server functionality – you may be able to see nameserver details, registrant contact details and DNSSEC delegation/status: