<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Bruce,</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">It's not "the" tool but it certainly is "a" tool used by various types of malfeasors to hide. It's an arrow in the quiver, along with the tools you raise (apologies for mixed metaphor). Indeed, there's a whole playbook, and we've only scratched the surface. In my experience, the "badder" the activity and the more sophisticated the "bad guy", the more levels and types of "tools" are used. Conversely, less sophisticated or devious bad guys tend to use fewer of these tools.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">As for using free email services, I hope you don't think I'm hiding....</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Greg</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jul 30, 2015 at 11:28 PM, Bruce Tonkin <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:Bruce.Tonkin@melbourneit.com.au" target="_blank">Bruce.Tonkin@melbourneit.com.au</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Hello Greg,<br>
<br>
This is off topic, but I couldn't resist.<br>
<span class=""><br>
>> Are you referring to the criminal element who knows how to use WHOIS to hide themselves? <br>
<br>
</span>I am not sure that WHOIS is the “tool” for hiding themselves.<br>
<br>
They generally use stolen credit cards and fake or stolen identities to not just hide themselves, but also avoid actually paying for any of the services they use. One of the side effects of this practice is that some innocent people actually have their names associated with inappropriate domain names and websites in the WHOIS entries.<br>
<br>
One of the most frequent “tools” to hide themselves is to use free email services from companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. They are able to then use these email services to confirm that their email address is accurate, and hence complete the registration procedure.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Bruce Tonkin<br>
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
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