WHOIS
The public record showing when a domain was registered and by which registrar.
WHOIS is the public record of who registered a domain name and when. Historically it exposed the registrant's name and contact details; privacy rules and paid proxy services now hide much of that, but the useful facts usually remain — the registration date, the registrar, and sometimes the country.
For spotting scams, the standout field is the creation date. A shop presenting itself as a long-established, trusted retailer whose domain was in fact registered weeks ago is contradicting its own story, and that gap is a strong warning sign. WHOIS will not, on its own, prove a site is fraudulent — every honest business registers a domain at some point, and criminals sometimes buy aged domains to look established — but read alongside other checks it is quietly powerful. You can query it through ICANN's lookup or any reputable WHOIS tool. Our article on domain age and website trust explains how to read the record and why a brand-new registration behind big promises deserves real caution. The age of the domain is the signal WHOIS most reliably reveals.