Own a domain name?

jgbishop

Senior member
May 29, 2003
521
0
0
If you own a domain name, do you use WHOIS protection? If not, do you receive a great deal of spam / junk mail / solicitor phone calls? I don't know whether or not this is a worthy thing to purchase, so I'd like to see what people here are doing.

Thanks for your help! :)
 

Crusty

Lifer
Sep 30, 2001
12,684
2
81
I use it on one domain and not on another one...I don't get much spam at all.
 

luquidwrym

Junior Member
Nov 1, 2004
13
0
0
If the domain was registered a couple years ago yes you would get tonns of spam, now you have to enter the text on a picture to get the whois info. This does help to limit it.

I have several domains, I am a designer and host and design a number of sites, and what I have found about spam is this.

1. You get it when you enter your email address anywhere online that a spider can serach. spamme@spamsucks.com is going to put your address in the lists. but spamme at spamsucks dot com or some other way that a person can get teh 'code' but a bot won't leaves you better off.

2. Never ask to remove yourself from a list, this just confirms that they got a real addy and send more.

3. Never publish the address on the web site in html. If you want to put your addy there then make a .gif file of the text in the same font and color.

4. Never use the mailto: link as this is serachable by spiders as well.

5. Use a contact form that hides the email address in the code so that bots can't get it.

Try to avoid using webmaster@yourdomain.com or info/sales/owner@yourdomain.com These are just begging to get spammed.

I get ten times the spam on my webmaster and info accounts than I do on my regular account, all at the same published domain.

I use the privacy feature if i don't want the owener of the domain known. For example one of my clients is an exotic dancer. For safety reasons she does not want her info available to the public, and she owns the domain. It is good for this. BTW she gets NO spam and has never put her email address online in anyform, and the domain is registered to this name. She also does no shopping or in anyway gives out the email, accept on business cards, and replys to her contact form.

 

Washoe

Senior member
Nov 13, 2003
425
0
0
If it's a personal website without much traffic other than family and friends, then I'm fine with just the public registration.

If it's a business site with potential to get a lot of hits/traffic, then get the private protection.
 

Cheetah8799

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2001
4,508
0
76
no whois protection for my domain, and I don't think I get any more spam because of it. It doesn't really get any traffic though.
 

JackMDS

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 25, 1999
29,545
422
126
I have few domain No Whois protection.

I get Spam (and Viruses attachments) on the active ones.

Seems that there is a .99 correlation between the Activity and the "Junk".

:sun:
 

Maverick2002

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2000
4,694
0
0
Plenty of spam here. About 75-90% of my emails are junk. Trying to set up SpamAssassin on the server to drop that number a bit. Then again, my email address is publicly available so a lot of the spam I get is probably automated by scan bots (if such things even exist, which I would assume they do).
 

Extrarius

Senior member
Jul 8, 2001
259
0
0
I have 5 domains right now, all public info, and I haven't noticed any kind of increase in real-life spam since I started getting domain names.

I do get email spam, but I've defeated 95% of that with a simple outlook express 'rule' checking for certain words, and I think most of it is on my 'public' addresses anyways.
 

JBT

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
12,094
1
81
I have 2 domain's and don't get any junk mail. I do NOT have WHOIS protection either.
 

aloser

Senior member
Nov 20, 2004
511
1
81
I don't get any major spam - it's all the same design-oriented email ("Click here and we will design you a logo!" or similar) - haven't gotten any marketing calls or anything either. Only once did I get any snail-mail, and that was just a single piece wanting me to switch hosts (or so I think).

Point being, I haven't had much, and it's all been minor (IMO at least).






Oh yeah - your results may vary.

Almost forgot - I don't have WHOIS enabled.
 

jgbishop

Senior member
May 29, 2003
521
0
0
Thanks for the replies everyone. Anyone else have comments on whether or not to buy WHOIS protection?