Tracking Unwanted Email
A companion document to
Surfing the Information Highway Safely
Peter Bilodeau, Educational Consultant (RECIT)
Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board
THERE IS NO ANONIMITY ON THE INTERNET
Let me say this again…
THERE IS NO ANONIMITY ON THE INTERNET
Anyone can find out
Who you are
And
Where you live
When you point your browser to a website, many sites send a “cookie” to you and demand one in return.
A “cookie” is a short identification message.
Likewise, all email, SMS & IM messages imbed sender information in their “header” –
a history of the message and the route it took.
The sender’s IP address is always a 9-11 digit number, surrounded by square brackets,
usually after the word “Received:”.
The IP address is that of the Internet provider – Sympatico, MSN, Citenet, Videotron
To find the name and address of the send’s Internet Provider,
Point your browser to
http://www.arin.net/index.shtml
Type URL in the Search box.
Double click on the first URL beginning with “NET”.
The last screen brings you to the
Internet Provider’s information
screen.
Notice the telephone number and
email address dedicated to abuse.
Call or write them and they will take
action.
Another large WHOIS database can be accessed at
http://tools.whois.net/whoisbyip/
Further WHOIS databases can be examined
By pointing your browser to
http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Domain_Names/Name_Search//
Locating a Header in an Email Message
The location of the email header depends on the email client (software) used.
G-Mail
Log in to Gmail.
Open the message you'd like to view headers for.
Click the down arrow next to Reply, at the top-right of the message pane.
Select Show original.
Hotmail
Log in to your Hotmail account.
Click Options next to the tabs.
Select Mail from the left-side menu.
Click Mail Display Settings.
Under Message Headers, select Advanced.
Click OK.
The full headers for all of your messages will now be available. Return to your inbox, and open
the message you'd like to view headers for.
Yahoo
Log in to your Yahoo! Mail account.
Open the message you'd like to view headers for.
Click Full Headers at the top of your message.
Locating a Header in an Email Message
Outlook
Open Outlook.
Open a message.
On the Message tab, in the Options group, click the Dialog Box Launcher icon image.
In the Message Options dialog box, the headers appear in the Internet headers box.
Outlook Express
Open Outlook Express.
From your inbox, locate the message you'd like to view headers for.
Right-click the message, and select Properties.
Open the Details tab in the dialogue box.
E-Mail Tracking Software & Websites
Software & websites listed below are referenced only, not recommended
Check IM
http://www.checkim.com/
Email Tracker Pro
http://www.emailtrackerpro.com/