Major Noob

I may be exchanging emails with someone I don't trust very much. I wanted to know that if I do that, will he be able to see my IP address?

If so, is there any email clients that conceal your IP address?

Please help
Thank You

sobeit

your emails can be traced. It depends upon the skills of the other user whether or not they can find out that its you. If you are planning to do anything illegal, threatening or whatever, they can turn it over the the authorities and they will trace it and find you.

Major Noob

No I'm not doing anything illegal, I just don't entirely trust the person I want to communicate with, so I don't want him to know my IP address, or where I am.

He won't turn anything over to the authorities to be sure, but isn't it fairly simple to obtain the other guys IP address through email?

Is there any way to bypass this, other than using a proxy program? I communicated with him through Facebook, which I believe is secure. But email, I'm not so sure about.

koala

Hi, welcome to TSF

The IP is usually included in the message header. I wouldn't worry about it though, there's very little that anyone can do with just an IP address.

This is an example of a header from one of my received emails that shows the sender's IP:

If you don't want this person to contact you after you've completed your correspondence, just setup and use a new webmail address ( gmail, hotmail, etc) for this purpose and then don't use it again when you've finished.

sobeit

One thing - if you do not plan to get another email address, type the one you plan to use into google and see what it says about you.

Major Noob

Very interesting.

But that's precisely it, I can type in that IP address you just gave and tell you exactly what city in the United States the IP address is located.

That's what I don't want the other guy to see. I will be in continued correspondence with him, but I'd prefer that he doesn't see any of my information.

Is this unique to Hotmail and Gmail or do ALL email's reveal the IP address?

Major Noob

No results came up.

koala

As far as I know, all message headers contain the IP address.

I've just looked up my own IP online, and it says I'm in Amsterdam, which is about 300 miles away, so nothing to worry about.

Is there any reason why you think this person might want to geographically locate you via your IP? It seems strange that you're sending messages to someone you don't trust.

Using a proxy would guarantee anonymity, or you could email from an internet cafe.

sobeit

if you use hotmail, gmail and such, you will be using their ip address unless you use pop3. However as I said before all emails can be traced when necessary and with the proper software/scripts.

If you are concerned about being found out (which to me sounds very fishy) then continue on as you have been doing.

Major Noob

Is that so? So the most an IP address does is tell you the approximate location of where you are rather than your neighborhood or town or even worse your specific house?

If you're interested in hearing in detail why I'm afraid to give out my IP to him and all of that, you can PM, but I suspect you might get bored to death cuz it's a long story.

And finally, is there any other means of communication short of getting a proxy program that would not give out my IP?

koala

I think a proxy is your best bet. There are free proxy plugins available for email clients like Thunderbird or you can sign up for a commercial one. I've never used one so I can't say how reliable or trustworthy they are. Hang on for some more replies regarding good proxy services.

It's ok, I don't need to know the reason, but check your PMs anyway, I've sent you a message.


EDIT:
Sorry if it seems like I'm contradicting sobeit's advice. He's absolutely right about emails being traceable if the other person knows what they're doing. But on the other hand we all have a right to privacy, and if the means to hide our identity/location are available then I see no problem in using them.

The internet is not as anonymous as people think.

Major Noob

Interesting.

I never really liked proxy programs, it's just unclean and messy. Your internet slows down and all, I've just never been interested in it.

I just wish there was some way to email someone without them knowing your information and what town you live in and so on.

koala

If you sign up for a proxy or use a free plugin, you can disable it for your general internet activities and just use it when emailing this one person, so slowdown isn't really an issue.

sobeit

proxies will not help if they know what they are doing. I can trace you even if you use a proxy if I wanted to. If you want to remain in communication with this person for whatever reason, you will have to take that chance.

You can even be traced through facebook if they wanted to and have the know how.

Major Noob

Wow, I did not know that. They can trace you to your specific house too or just the town you live in?

Deleted082808

most likely. anyway, though im not a prof. in this stuff, its best not to communicate with him at all. who knows, you might let something slip!

sobeit

just town or where ever your isp is located. Then if they are hackers they could go further than that. It all depends upon the knowledge of the person - or who they pay off.

theres places online where you can pay them to find someone and they can. But for normal everyday conversions, this does not normally happen.

Just always be aware you can always be found depending upon the determination of the other party.

Jennifer1971

At the ugly risk of being judged, I have some questions about this, too. I use several email addresses to separate my personal (online dating) from my professional work. I meet flaky people online all the time, and be it what it may, there are times when I feel very unsafe, even in my own home. I have accounts with a few of the "facebook" type places, and have Googled 1 of my email addys and found posts I added to an email group I'm in. I admit I'm not very knowledgeable with computers- A basic "stay at home mom" type - so I have no clue about this type of thing. And as a rule of thumb, I try to never use my own name online. Deceitful? No... cautious(!) for someone who doesn't know how risky it can be to do so. So my question for you is- illegal activities ruled out ( I don't break the law) -how many (and what kind ???) of internet interactions can a scary, hateful stalker type use to find my house, street, children, public records, etc..? Am I really unsafe using the internet for my personal interactions(?), or is there really no reason for someone (who uses it like I do) to fret?

Thanks for your help, guys. This is a great thing for people to understand, especially since we're using the internet for all kinds of purposes, including our most personal business!

Jen