With Internet data becoming more affordable, online spam is also increasing. The online space is fraught with scams and fraudsters. To protect yourself from scams, you should track the sender's IP address every time you get an email. Especially emails which prompt a transaction or further communication.
The question which arises is how to track an IP address from an email?
Today we will share multiple ways to do so. Even if you are on your tablet or smartphone, you can easily track the IP address as it doesn’t require much data. Before that, however, you need to understand why tracking an IP address from any email is important.
#Why is tracking an IP address from an email important?
There are essentially 3 reasons why you need to track an IP address from email. These are:
1. To protect yourself from phishing scams
The 1st reason is to protect yourself from phishing scams. When you know the sender's IP, you can determine to a certain extent whether the sender is trustworthy or not.
Depending on this, you can decide whether you should reply or click on the sender's links.
Not only that, once you get the IP address, you can easily check it against various spam lists. It is easy to know thereafter whether it is an IP address that is trustworthy or not.
2. To block a persistent spammer:
Many times, a spammer might use different email addresses to spam you. Having a cluttered inbox is never a good idea.
Since the spammer might use multiple email ids, blocking a single ID will not solve the problem.
However, if you get the IP address of the spammer, you can block the IP. Once you do so, no matter which email ID the spammer uses, you can eliminate the spam.
No need to deal with unnecessary emails.
3. To verify the sender:
These days, many scammers hack the email accounts of your known contacts. After that, they spam everyone in their contact book. In this case, the email will come from a known sender. That is why it is common to fall for such emails.
However, once you retrieve the sender's IP address, you can check it for geographic location. Only when you're sure that the sender is genuine can you interact with the sender of the email.
This will further protect you from any scams.
These are the 3 reasons why you need to track an IP address from any email.
Now, we will help you understand how to track an IP address from any mail, whether you're using Gmail, Outlook, or Apple Mail.
#How to Track an IP Address from an Email for Gmail?
When you want to track an IP address from Gmail, you must look at its full email header. The email header consists of information like the sending ID, sending IP, and the other metadata. Therefore by looking at the email header, you can track the IP.
To do so for Gmail, you have to follow the steps below:
- You have to 1st open your Gmail account.
- After that, you have to open the email for which you want to track the IP.
- There will be a button in the top right corner that will lead to a drop-down menu when you click it. The drop-down menu will have the option to show original.
- Once you click on it, you can view the full email header and the sending IP.
In these four simple steps, you can easily track the IP address from Gmail.
#How to Track an IP Address from an Email for outlook?
The process is equally simple for outlook.
- You have to open the email client and double click on the email for which you want to get the IP.
- After that, click on the File drop-down menu and then properties.
- Once you click on properties, the entire email header will appear, and you can view the IP.
#How to Track an IP Address from an Email for Apple mail?
Similarly, Apple mail also has a simple procedure to get the IP address.
- You have to open the email whose IP you want to get.
- After that, you have to click on the View drop-down menu and then the message option, and after that, Raw Source.
- In the raw source, you will get the entire email header data, including the IP address.
Getting the IP address is only half the task. You have to track that IP address to determine the genuineness of the sender.
Wondering how to do so? We will cover that below.
#How to trace the IP address of the sender?
In the full email header, there will be a field by the name of the sender IP or X-Originating IP or Original IP.
Once you get that IP, you have to visit the MX toolbox site. You will get a field to enter the IP address and click on the reverse lookup option. The reverse lookup option is in the drop-down menu beside the field to enter the IP.
Once you click it, you can know the IP location as well as the other sender details. That will certainly help you track the same.
MX Toolbox is not the only option you have when you want to track an IP address from an email. There are numerous other tools as well, which we will highlight below.
Three alternate tools to extract an IP address
The other tools which you can utilise include:
1. GSuite Toolbox MessageHeader:
The advantage of this tool is that it allows you to paste the entire email header. If you're unable to decipher the IP from the mail header, you paste the whole thing there, and it will detect the IP address on its own.
2. MX toolbox Email Header Analyzer:
This tool allows you to paste the email header and then analyze it to provide the IP.
3. IP-Address Email Header Trace:
Want a tool that does both?
If so, this is the perfect option for you. It not only analyses the email header but also traces the IP from the email header. That way, you won't have to worry about using any other tool when you're using this one.
Thus, if you're not able to decipher the IP address from the mail header, these are the 3 tools you can use.
If you're struggling to track an IP address from any mail, these are the tools that can come to your rescue. With the help of our detailed guide above, you can know right away who is the sender of the email and whether the IP is a spammer or genuine person. After that, you can easily take appropriate action to protect yourself from scams and other frauds.