What The Domain Of An Email Address Can Tell You
Randy Eadon
November 04, 2008
Almost everyone who is somewhat familiar with sending email understands the idea of an email header, but few realize how important it is. The header is like the envelope that contains the body of the email, and it helps direct the message. It has multiple lines, such as the sender (or senders) and receiver (or receivers) lines, and the subject heading. This, though, is not all the important information an email header offers. It also provides an IP address, which can be essential when dealing with spam mail.
Because no one likes to discover their inbox full of solicitations, fad diets or body-part enlargements, the person sending the spam email has modified the subject headings (avoiding immediate deletion by the receiver) to get past the more critical reader. Even if you are the only recipient listed, and the sender seems to be a legitimate source, it could still be spam. Avoid messages that use your name, and even sometimes unsolicited, but more personally relevant headings. If you are not familiar with the group, chances are, they aren't legitimate.
The recent Internet crackdown on spam has meant that more people are reporting annoying unsolicited emails, and thus people will sometimes forge the sender line of the header. While this may seem to be the end of the line for those wishing to report offending emails, the email header also contains an IP address, which is like a postmark or stamp. Every machine or server a message encounters marks it, and by tracing this information backwards, it is usually possible to determine the real sender of an email. Reverse email lookups can help you further research the sender of any email.
Regardless of whether the sender line has been forged, you can use the email header information including IP address to find out more about its origin by researching the email address provided. A reverse email address lookup can help you find out more about any sender.
Because no one likes to discover their inbox full of solicitations, fad diets or body-part enlargements, the person sending the spam email has modified the subject headings (avoiding immediate deletion by the receiver) to get past the more critical reader. Even if you are the only recipient listed, and the sender seems to be a legitimate source, it could still be spam. Avoid messages that use your name, and even sometimes unsolicited, but more personally relevant headings. If you are not familiar with the group, chances are, they aren't legitimate.
The recent Internet crackdown on spam has meant that more people are reporting annoying unsolicited emails, and thus people will sometimes forge the sender line of the header. While this may seem to be the end of the line for those wishing to report offending emails, the email header also contains an IP address, which is like a postmark or stamp. Every machine or server a message encounters marks it, and by tracing this information backwards, it is usually possible to determine the real sender of an email. Reverse email lookups can help you further research the sender of any email.
Regardless of whether the sender line has been forged, you can use the email header information including IP address to find out more about its origin by researching the email address provided. A reverse email address lookup can help you find out more about any sender.