When it comes to knowing the origin of an email, there are several ways that allow us to know more or less exactly where it came from. The first step is precisely to check the domain that accompanies the email address: @ amazon.es, @ google.com, @ gmail.com. The most useful way to gut the origin of an email is based, however, on tracking the IP from Gmail, Outlook or Hotmail .
Either to see if an email is false or to see if someone wants to get hold of our data by impersonating a company with techniques such as phishing , the process to follow is quite simple, and this time we will see how to proceed in each case. For both cases we will have to resort to the web version of Gmail and Outlook.
So you can track the IP address of an email in Gmail
Knowing the IP address of an email received in Gmail is really simple. The first step will be, how could it be otherwise, access the email in question. Once inside, we will click on the three Options points and select the Show original option .
Within the new tab that will be enabled we will be able to see the source code of the email that we want to track. To find the sender's IP we will have to search for the following text string by pressing the key combination Control + F (Command + F if we are on Mac or Linux) at the same time:
- x-originating-ip
Along with this section we can see the IP address of the original sender. Sometimes the IP address can be found through the "sender IP" field .
If the source code of the email lacks these two text strings, it is likely that an external encryption client or an anonymous service was used to hide the identity of the email .
How to know an IP address in Outlook or Hotmail
If we opt for the Microsoft mail service, the way to proceed is practically identical to what we have just seen with Gmail. The only difference is that we will have to select the option See origin of the message within the options of the mail that we want to locate and trace.
After clicking on this option, a window similar to Gmail will open. Within this window we will have to search for the following text field using the combination of keys Control + F:
- sender IP
Followed by this text string we can see the full IP address of the sender, as we can see in the screenshot below.
If the code lacks this text string, we can use the string "x-originating-ip" to find the original address .
I already have the IP, how can I locate it on a map?
To locate and locate an IP within a map we can use a multitude of websites. Pages like GeoIPView or What is my IP, for example, will be enough to locate any IP address. Simply paste the address in question into the text box to find the more or less exact location of the sender.
Will this help to find the real location of the person responsible? The truth is that no. Most pages usually offer approximate information on the location of the different addresses. To this is added that companies like Movistar make use of dynamic public IPs, not to mention the use of VPN applications to choose IP addresses from other countries. This means that the location of the IP may not correspond to the original position of the sender , but to a simulated position.