How to Show Headers for Spam Email

If you have an email account, it is likely that you have experienced being bombarded by unrequested and unwanted spam messages. Even after requesting the sender to stop, they still continue to send them. After all, there isn't much you can do because you don't know who they are. Right? Well, that is not exactly true. There is something that you can do. You can report the spam emails to your email provider and other sources, such as Spam Cop. But in order to do that, you will need to grab the email headers to find out where the emails are originating from.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Outlook & Outlook Express

1. Open your Outlook email program.

2. Click on the spam message that you would like to retrieve headers for. Click "File," which is located on the menu bar.

3. Select "Properties." Select the "Details" option. Select "Message Source." You will now be able to view the headers.

Gmail

4. Log into your Gmail account.

5. Select the spam message for which you would like to retrieve headers.

6. Look at the top right-hand corner of the spam message. You will see the "Reply" hyperlink. Next to the Reply hyperlink you will notice an arrow that points downward. Click on the arrow.

7. Click on "Message Source." Select the "Show Original" option. Your headers for the spam message will appear in a separate window. Maximize the other window to view the spam headers.

Hotmail

8. Log into your Hotmail account.

9. Click on the "Mail" option in order to view your email.

10. Click the "Inbox" folder.

11. Locate the spam message that you would like to retrieve headers for and right-click on that message. Select "View Source." You will now see the spam email headers.

References

• Spam Cop Website