How to Locate an Email's Origin
Spam is a common type of email that many people receive in their In box on a daily basis. Like "junk mail" you receive in your physical mail box, spam emails focus on trying to sell you a product or service. Sometimes you may even receive spam from malicious sources, such as scammers or hackers. If this is the case, you may wish to trace the origin of the email to see where it originated.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Find the header in the email you wish to trace. The header of an email includes the subject, sender's name, sender's email address and the IP address of the sender. Depending on the type of email service you use, the header of an email will be in different locations. If you would like more information on how to find an email header, visit the "How do I Find My Email Headers?" page.
-
2
Copy the email header. Highlight the header by holding down the left button of the mouse at the end of the header. While keeping the left mouse button held down, drag the mouse over the entire email header. Right click and select "Copy" or press ctrl + c on your keyboard.
-
-
3
Find a website that allows you to locate the origin of an email by pasting a header into a box. One example of such a site is the "Trace Email Address Source" page on the "What Is My IP Address" website.
-
4
Paste the email header into the text box on the website. To do this, right click and select "Paste" or press ctr + v on your keyboard.
-
5
Click on either a "Get Source" or "Submit" button. After the next page loads, the results will display notifying you of the email's origin.
-
1
References
Resources
- Photo Credit computer image by michele goglio from Fotolia.com
