Hi all,
sometimes i saw some ozbargainers posted the real owner of a website, place of registration, date the site was created, stuffs like that - to find out who really own a particular website, or to find out where exactly it is located.
is anyone care to share how? I tried to google but find nothing.
Thank you heaps
I use http://whois.ausregistry.net.au/whois/whois_local.jsp? for finding out info on the site. .com.au's requires an ABN which is listed in the whois.
Also, an ABN lookup, http://www.abr.business.gov.au/Index.aspx
Google their name, ABN etc and you usually pull up some info.
wow. super fast replies. thanks all.. will try!
Be aware that "savvy" website operators use "domain privacy", which means the details are not publically disclosed to whois.
The main reason for this is because of spam… any contact details disclosed in whois searches will get hammered by spam bots. I got sick of it, and now have all new domains with private contact info.
With com.au/net.au domains you are not allowed to use domain privacy. You must always show the ABN, ACN or its business number. Moreover, domain privacy on a commercial site just spells "dodgy".
As of spam bots, you get spams anyway — it's usually just excuse for web masters when they have something to hide. And once your email address is leaked, it would be impossible to get it off spammers' list. So rather than hiding to prevent spams, you'll be more effective working on the filters.
Not saying hiding is wrong though. For some sites it makes sense for its owners to hide his name and contact information. However for online ecommerce shops where real money is exchanged, I'll be wearied dealing with people hiding behind masks.
Usually, if somebody (eg: erwinsie) is trying to find out contact info on a domain, then the domain and webmaster are probably somewhat shonky anyway. Anybody who was operating "out in the open" would have contact details on teh site itself, eh?
About half of mine are private, especially the satire ones where I am likely to get abusive contact, but the commercial type ones are not.
Silly thing is that I have to block the whois-disclosed email address (filter to trash) because it is not useable. So having it there is pretty much useless anyway from a "making contact" point of view.
I don't have any .com.au anyway, not not aware of requirements for those.
Agree that if you are running a satire website. Actually even if you are running an information website, there is probably not much need to disclose your contact information and residential/postal address in WHOIS.
I guess my point applies only to eCommerce shops. If I am clicking through the checkout links and handing over my credit card details (hopefully over an SSL link), then I would hope that the WHOIS info is not hidden behind some privacy mask.
hi guys, yes, i am trying to find out who the real owner of a website. i cant tell the website name, but in nutshell :
someone here in australia created a fake website (said to be USA based) and tricked my friend to buy services from it, and pay large amount of money. we are trying to figure out if that guy is actually the owner of that USA website.
Is it a .com.au?
no. just .com
There is no requirement for correct details or business registration for a .com domain. Seems like you have to register to see full details at domaintools. You can check whois data from godaddy.com or any other registrar.
whois
dunno if its www.whois.net.au
or www.whois.com.au