Things have changed quite dramatically in the last decade in regards to finding information. If someone has a question about anything, and they have an Internet connection, they turn on their computers and search for the answers. Though not all information that you find online is accurate, you can find almost anything you want. If you have a mysterious email addresses on your hands, use the Internet to find out more about who the sender may be.
You may find something about an unknown email without having to search for the actually addr
ss. If you open the heading on an email, you are going to find the IP address that goes with that email address. This identifies a particular computer with a series of numbers. The average IP address looks like this: 222.3.224.222, though they do vary slightly. You can use that number in an IP search you can find online. It gives you location and other information, but generally not name.
Though you can learn a lot by the IP address, that may not be enough for you. If that is the case, you can always take that unfamiliar email address and search through the search engine of your choice. You simply enter the address and then submit. If there is any mention or listing of that address anywhere online, it should come up for you in such a search. Use many different engines before you give up.
You may also want to try various professional and social networking sites. These are immensely popular at the moment. When anyone signs up, they must sign up with an email address, and for the most part, these email addresses are searchable. If they have signed up and have a profile, you can find them this way. This is where you can find the most information if they do come up.
What you may discover in your quest is that you are coming up with nothing, or perhaps the results you get are confusing. In that case, you have one more option that can be a very powerful tool. There are specific free email lookup services that help with this information only. They can give you search tips or give you what you need immediately.
Lindsay has been writing about web applications for 4 years and is tracking the latest trends in web development. You can check out her latest project at http://www.reverseemaildetective.com
