Buying domains and verifying seller

[Xatsker]

When you are buying a domain name and site how do you verify the seller owns a site, before you pay with paypal.

I know you can check the registration with a whois search,

But this does not tell confirm or link to a sellers username name here.

What is the best thing to do before paying, or is it all done on trust.

[Alex]

best to use an escrow service because even if you verify their identity they can still rip you off.

However if you just want to verify you can have them change something in the whois to prove they have control of it.
eg. change name from A. Keaton to Alex P Keaton...or change the contact email.