INTERNET 201: How to (sometimes) find the location of an email sender.

[benburch]

This is about a geolocation.

Email headers can reveal a LOT about the sender of an email.

Sometimes, you can even find their location!

Here is how;

First, you need the "raw headers" of an email address. Likely your email program does not display these ugly things to you by default, but almost all email programs have a means of displaying them. Check the "help" tool for your email program to figure out how to view the raw headers for the email you want to geolocate.

Next, you need to find the sender's IP address in that mess... Look for lines saying "Recevied: from" followed by some strings that are IP addresses formatted like 192.168.1.100 - four numbers of up to three digits separated by periods. The IP address in the lowest of these is usually the IP address of the sender. (Sometimes an internal address is followed by the address it really is beyond the firewall. You want the "really" address in this case.

Select and cut out the IP address.

Next go to http://www.dnsstuff.com and paste this IP address in the "City from IP" tool and click "find city" button.

Now, the caution is that this is a very, very inexact thing, and is sometimes simply wrong. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

[Joanne98]

1. Thankyou.

[Imagine My Surprise]

2. Thank you

[wain]

3. Cool - for Outlook Express...

For Microsoft Outlook Express right click on the Inbox line for a specific email, select Properties and the Detail Tab and click on Message Source to open a window displaying email header info and content.
:)