Find Out Who Sent You Those Anonymous E-mails

Emails from strangers can often be traced. It is easy and you don't have to be using the same program as the sender. I learned the steps below by tracing a Yahoo.com email that I received in my Gmail account. A Google search of the email address did not reveal the account owner, so:

Method One: Find a Sender's Location

If you receive in your Gmail account an email you want to trace, first open the email's header to find out what server it came from. To do this:

1. Open the email.

2. Open its header by clicking on the inverted triangle just to the right of the "Reply" button. Select "Show Original." You will see a long mishmash of information, called "the header," but all you want to find is one line of it.

3. Scroll down until you find a line resembling this one, using numerals instead of x:

Received: from [xx.xxx.xx.xx]]

The numerals with dots between them are the numeric online address of the originating server, often called the IP address.

4. Copy and paste that numerical address (without the brackets) into a search engine and do an Internet search for it.

5. The search result will be lists of IP addresses that include that number. If you can't find it in the first index, look in a second and third index and you will probably find it.

If the number you have found is a live link, clicking will lead you to a Google Map that will pinpoint the geographic location of the server. Most of the time the sender lives in that area. Some of the numbers do not have live links, or will block you from seeing the server's location.

If you don't want anyone tracing your emails, send them from a Gmail account, which reveals an IP address but won't let anyone find details about it.

Next, try:

Method Two: The Sender's Personal Details

If you have the sender's email address, go to Spokeo.com or Pipl.com and do the Email search. Typing in the email address will give you the person's name, or, if his name is not displayed, his gender and age. If you do get a name, enter it under "Name" and the person's address, phone number, age and further information may be displayed.

These sites gather information from the Net and social-networking sites to compile individual profiles that are quite complete, and you can find out even more if you are willing to pay to join. Search your own name and you may be so shocked at how many facts are collected that you will want to opt out. Opt out of Spokeo by going to the bottom of the homepage and clicking "Privacy."

However, when opting out, you must give your email address, which Spokeo.com may collect and keep because you have given it freely. Spokeo.com is controversial in that way and some people have called for the entire site to be shut down. Pipl.com has no opt-out that I could find.

The email sender I searched for was revealed to be a 23-year-old male in British Columbia, Canada, and nobody to be concerned about.

Sylvia Sky writes mostly about occult and spiritual matters. Copyright 2011 by Sylvia Sky.