I received an email from PrivacyProtect just yesterday saying that someone is interested in a potential advertising partnership with my site. I checked the website out and it seems legit enough to believe it but I want to know what are the opinions of other trappers regarding this site? Is it bogus or something fake? From the looks of it, it simply protects your contact information and people can contact the domain owner through them. That is supposedly how the person who seem interested in advertising on my site got the email through to me.

What do you think guys?

Well currently they have got their information on your WHOIS record for your domain. That means you are paying for them to hide your details from the domain WHOIS record for your site. You may not be paying them directly (the cost may be incorporated in the cost of your domain) but they are hiding your details from the record.

It is generally a bad idea to hide your details. It makes your domain, and therefore your site, look untrustworthy. You are required to provide contact details for a domain. Providing the information for a company hiding your details, who refuse to accept postal mail and rely solely on a web form for contact is not a good idea!

To directly answer the question of whether they are fake: They are a real company and a real website.

Edit: I've just noticed Trap17.com has the details hidden too Still doesn't change my opinion that these services should not be allowed.

I think domains handled by Xidomains are subscribed to this service since Trap17 and my site hosted under ComputingHost are in it. Is it safe to assume that the email I receive is accurate and there is indeed a real person interested in advertising in my site? I noticed that they have some spam protection but you never know with these things which may actually turn out to be fake.

Ask for the contact details of the person that is interested in advertising and contact them directly. This gives you a bit more certainty you are dealing with a real person. Also, like I said, try and get out of PrivacyProtect and get real details put on there, then you can be sure that you're in direct contact with anyone interested in your site.

I have been in direct contact with this person for the past few days and we have been talking a potential advertising venture together on my site, she is offering to pay me but I don't know how much of this is actually legit. She seems to have a valid email and has actually seen my site since she has quoted some of my post URLs. If payment were to be made, which would be the most safest one to get across? I was thinking of paypal but I have heard some security vulnerabilities have been exploited with that.

On the case with PrivacyProtect, I have never heard of this service until I received an email from them. I had no idea that my domain was actually registered with them. That brings back to my assumption that domains registered by Xidomains are automatically binded to this service. Don't you think it is a little weird that a potential advertiser is contacting me through the Whois information of my domain instead of making direct contact to me on my site where I have listed down my email?

Any service where you do not hand over account details can be classed as safe. Paypal would be OK if you want the whole thing to be done over the Internet, or a good old fashioned cheque is pretty secure, but would involve you handing over your address. The points to remember are not to hand over any of your bank details (account number, etc.) just in case this is a scam, and to wait until you can see the money in your account before you put the adverts on your site. It may be slightly annoying to the advertiser, but if they are genuine they will understand why.



Not at all. Your WHOIS details should be correct, and will tell someone exactly who is in charge of a domain name. Just like you are checking out the person interested in advertising on your site, they may have checked out your details on the web and through the WHOIS record. Having your details on the WHOIS makes you appear 'real' - there should be a name, address and phone number - some actual contact details. In your case you're lucky they did contact you - I wouldn't if someone hid their details.