I’m Mostapha. I buy and sell names from Morocco. I have lost sleep over a name that was fine and an inbox that was not. The checker scores letters. It does not see that your registrar login is a Gmail you abandoned in 2019. The lock-and-mailbox version of this is security 101. The inbox-as-lock is the registrar email. This page is the annual clean of the account that holds the keepers. Leftovers still get dropped, not polished: drop vs renew.
One panel, one mailbox, one person who can recover it
Keepers belong at a registrar you still log into. ICANN’s accredited registrar list is who is allowed to sell gTLDs — it is not a quality ranking. Five cheap panels “for coupons” is how a renewal reminder dies in a folder you never open. Who is on record this week: Lookup.
- A mailbox that exists only for domains. Not the family WhatsApp backup. Not a university address.
- 2FA that is an app or a hardware key. SMS is a SIM story: not cyber warfare.
- Recovery codes printed, not in the same phone.
- No leftover “user” from a designer who left in 2024.
If you think it already moved: freeze first, do not rebuild a site: freeze first.
Hygiene is for names you would buy again. zenpay.com deserves a boring account. best-ai-tools-online.com does not deserve 2FA theatre. Score first: how we score. Three pastes: live valuations.
What I actually check once a year
- Login works. Password is not reused. 2FA still attached to a device I have.
- Card on file is a card I still own. Expired cards drop keepers: renew early.
- Transfer lock on. Auth code not sitting in a chat log. Escrow is the door when you sell: Escrow.com is not a cousin, not an unlocked push.
- WHOIS / RDAP contact is an address you would still see a lawyer’s letter at. Privacy is fine. A dead fax number is not privacy. It is a missed complaint: UDRP.
- Nameservers are boring. The lander is a window, not a playground: for-sale lander.
CISA’s plain advice on phishing-resistant MFA is enough. You do not need a war room. You need an account a stranger cannot talk a helpdesk into opening.
Decision
Score the letters. Drop leftovers. For what remains: one registrar you still use, one mailbox, app 2FA, lock, a card that works. If the hygiene takes a weekend, you have too many names or too many panels. Keep the Google row.