Hidden email address

Hmm... what do you guys do when you get an email where the sender's address is completely hidden?

Is there actually a way to figure out who sent it, and how is it even possible to mask an email address like that in the first place?

Taylor Swift

I know you could've just used AltaVista for that.

Easy. The standard doesn't actually require an address.

If you dig into the full header, you'll see which servers handled the email, which should help you out.

slycrane94 said:Pretty obvious. Most standards don't even require an address to be listed.

If you actually bother to look at the full email header, you can see which servers it passed through, which usually gives you a clue.

Yeah, I’m with you there... it seems totally logical to me that the header should show who sent the damn thing.

The weird part is that this happened to a friend of mine, and she was asking me exactly how to "unmask" the sender. She kept insisting it was somehow "hidden."

I guess... maybe it's my own fault for assuming people actually know what they're talking about when it comes to computers. When she said "hidden," I actually took her seriously. 😬

Whatever. I guess I'll have to see it for myself to believe it. 🤔

I run everything through SpamAssassin first. If I don't recognize the sender or they aren't in my contacts, it’s an immediate bounce and delete.

Adam Wright56 said:I’m on the same page... it seems perfectly logical that the sender should be visible in the header.

The funny thing is, this happened to a friend of mine, and she actually asked me how to "uncover" who sent it. She was convinced it was "hidden."

I guess it might be my fault for assuming people actually know their way around a computer; when she said "hidden," I took her literally. 😬

Whatever. I suppose I'll have to see it for myself sometime. 🤔

Like I said. It can easily be hidden, spoofed, or whatever else you want to call it. Of course, better providers like Comcast block these tricks, but if everyone were competent, we wouldn't have spam in the first place. 😁

slycrane94 said:Like I said. It can easily be hidden, faked, or whatever else you want to call it.

Yeah... well, obviously it can.

But is there actually any way to verify who sent the email, or are we just stuck guessing from home?

Adam Wright56 said:Yeah... obviously it can.

But is there any way to actually figure out who sent it, like from home?

Not really. You can check the headers to see when it hit which server, and go from there. In other words, you'd have to track down the admin of that first server and beg them to check their logs... you know how it goes.

slycrane94 said:Not really. You can actually see exactly which server handled the email by looking at the headers. From there, you have to trace it back. Basically, you'd have to reach out to the admin of that first server and ask them to dig through their logs... you know how it goes.

'Thought as much'... well, thanks anyway. 👍

Look, guys, pretty much every mail server lets you decide if you want to include your actual registered "display name" with your messages or just leave it out.
Basically, whether your name shows up depends entirely on what the sender chooses to do, not because some random middleman server decided to strip it away.
I guess if someone’s intentionally hiding their name, they probably have a reason for it.

Henry Morales32 said:Look, on any mail server, you have the option to choose whether you want your registered "real name" attached to your message or not.
So, it’s entirely up to the sender if they want to show it; it isn't some random intermediate server stripping it away.
If someone doesn't want their name visible, they usually have a reason.

Where did I ever say a server was deleting it? 😕

I honestly cannot fathom why everyone is overcomplicating this so much. It is quite simple: you just navigate to the file location, right-click on the icon, and select "Properties." Everything you need is laid out clearly right there in the menu.👋 👋 👋