Common Mistakes When Tracing An Email back To The Sender

by: Ed Opperman

Many times a person receives an email and they will need to locate or identify the sender. They may search online for email tracing tips and attempt to locate and identify the owner of the email account. A simple Internet search will return thousands of hits on reverse email search.

The first thing you may find is instructions on how to examine email headers, locate the senders IP address and trace that IP address back to the senders Internet service Provider or ISP.These instructions will almost always end right there at the ISP and not return any identifying information about the sender. In fact it's extremely common mistake for a novice to misread the headers and trace their own IP number and not the senders.

The second most common mistake is to use an instant reverse email search. This is a search that utilizes a data base. That data base will only include information that the email account owner used when they created the email account and this is almost always fictitious.

Another common mistake is the erroneous opinions you may find that claim that there is no legal way to obtain identifying information about an email account without a subpoena served on the ISP. You will even find some opinions tat claim that certain kinds of emails are completely untraceable. This too is false and a very common mistake.

Many people think that since an email is sent or received on a computer they need a computer or IT specialist to trace the email when they should really be relying on a trained professional investigator. If you need to run a plate and locate the owner of car you don't ask a mechanic. If you need to get the name behind an unlisted phone number you don't ask a telephone repairman.

Obviously when you need someone located or identified the person you should turn to is a private investigator. If you start there you can avoid all of the common mistakes listed in this article. A trained investigator experienced in email investigations will be familiar with all of these common mistakes and will have the resources to correctly identify the actual person behind the email account. They can even record and document each step of the investigation and provide a report that can be submitted as evidence.

Copyright (c) 2011 Opperman Investigations Inc