Introduction
Hello,
If you’re reading this, then I imagine you’re here to learn how to report assets of scamming operations.
Note: This is a beginner guide, covering only Domains & Phone Numbers. A more advanced one may come out in the future.
**Domains**
First things first. 2 things are needed for a website (excluding the code)
- A domain (Provided by a domain registrar, such as Namecheap)
- A host (Provider by the hoster, such as AWS)
Now, how do we identify the domain and the host? A simple whois query/lookup.
Many websites provide this. On Unix based operating systems you can even use the `whois` command.
I use: https://www.whois.com/whois
You can use whatever you like, they should all provide the same output.
Lets take scammer.info as an example:
- Find your whois lookup tool, I will be using the one mentioned above.
- Enter it in the search bar.
- You will receive a result that looks like this:
From this we now know who to contact:
- In the registrar field, we see that NameCheap is the registrar
- In the nameservers field, we see that Cloudflare is the hoster
Scrolling a bit further down, we are presented with an abuse email:
This is where we are sending the report to.
As an additional, I tend to take a screenshot of the website. This is going a bit off topic, but when conducting an investigation - I also tend to upload the site to an archive site, in case they change it or take it down.
I obviously won't be reporting scammer.info to NameCheap, that was just used as an example.
Below, I have provided a template you can use when writing your email:
https://pastebin.com/pGVTzFuB
Change it however you like, but this should at least be an idea if you are struggling to structure it.
Finally, send the email and await a response. Some providers are notorious for being slow to respond, in that case - You can contact the hoster instead.
**Numbers**
Okay, domains out the way. This is near enough the same.
First off, we need to identify the carrier - This is the provider of the number (An example being Onvoy)
We can do this several ways, most conveniently, if you have 500xp+ on BobRTC. Then you can head over to chat.bobrtc.tel and use BobBot's `!verify [number]`
Another option is to use a carrier lookup site, the one I use is: https://freecarrierlookup.com/
Enter the number, and you'll be provided with an output similar to this:
From this, we can tell that the carrier is: Neutral Tandem-Illinois, LLC - IL. These guys are a reseller for Onvoy, and with a short bit of research - We find that we can report the number through the web form, located here: https://www.inteliquent.com/legal/unwanted-calls
It's not always this simple, sometimes carriers request that you email them, some request that you call them. Below is another email template, this time for reporting numbers:
https://pastebin.com/xiFZbFHc
Again, change it however you like and await their response.
**Ending notes**
That's all for now, hopefully now you have the basics down for reporting.
If you want any changes made to this guide, leave a reply and that'd be much appreciated.
If you have any questions, reply below and I'll be happy to help you out.
Thanks!