Identifying where e-mail originates
You will need to view the full
e-mail headers to identify where the e-mail originated. The full e-mail header
also needs to be included in your complaint.
- Viewing
Full E-mail Headers in Eudora
- Open the message and click the Blah Blah Blah icon in the
message window.
- Viewing
Full E-mail Headers in GroupWise
- Open the message, click the File menu and
choose Attachments, then View, then Mime.
- Viewing
Full E-mail Headers in Outlook Epress
- Right-click on the message and choose
Properties. Then click the Details tab.
- View
Full E-mail Headers using Web Access for U-mail
- Open the message and click the arrow to the
right of the From: field.
Once you are viewing the full
header, look for lines that begin with “Received: from”. The Received: from
lines are in chronological order, with the most recent mail server listed
first. The last Received: from line (closest to the Date: information)
identifies the originating computer. Below is the full e-mail header of a piece
of spam “phishing” for information.
|
Return-path:
<support@paypal.com> |
The originating Received: from
line is:
Received: from paypal.com (matrix08.matrixvd.com
[80.97.37.138] (may be forged)) by av2.und.nodak.edu (portions
deleted). Let’s take a look at this line.
Now that you have identified the originating computer (host)
you may send a complaint to either postmaster or abuse at the domain portion of
the hostname. In this example, the domain is matrixvd.com; the abuse address
would be abuse@matrixvd.com. Note, the postmaster or abuse addresses aren’t
guaranteed to work but are a standard addresses used for such purposes. Also,
keep in mind that you may be receiving the spam as the result of a
virus-infected computer and not as a direct assault against you, use your
complaint as a chance to alert the originating site to the problem and request
their assistance in stopping the spam.