Tutorial:
Checking an email in 5 steps
Evaluating the WHOIS information
If the status report offers none or insufficient information about the owner of the linked domain, you have the possibility to retrieve all available information about the operator of the domain through the link " WHOIS" at the bottom of the window.
WHOIS (who is) is a protocol, that delivers information about internet domains and IP addresses and their owners through a distributed database system. The information that is supplied by the WHOIS servers, can differ from server to server, but it contains at least the details about the person that rented the domain.
These details are most often found in the upper part of the displayed information under e.g. the following keywords:
- Owner, Owner name
- Registrant, Registrant name
- Address, Street, City
Always compare the details about the domain owner with your personal expectation as well. Do the operator and especially the country, where the domain is hosted, fit to the alleged link destination? Does ist seem logical, that a link in this email points to a website, whose operator resides in the specified country? If not, this is quite likely a fraud attempt.
To view different examples in their original size, please click here or in the screenshot.