How to check the Email Header

This article will show you how to check your email header in Outlook Express. Email headers are an important part of preventing spam mail because it will show you the originating IP address of the email, regardless of the name of the sender. This will give you a clue if the IP address is from your own office or if it came from the legitimate sender's IP address or the email is just being spoofed.

To do this:

1. Highlight the email in the Inbox.
2. Right click and choose Properties.
3. In the window that pops out, choose the Details tab.

You will now see a text window. Look at the first line that says "received from". E.g. "Received: from mx2.mydestiny.net [202.8.224.33] by wwwcomphinc with ESMTP".

If the email is a spam mail, you can inform your system administrator of the originating IP address so that it can be blocked.

NOTE:
The originating IP address of any spam mail can only be determined by checking the email of the actual recipient. If you forward the mail, the header will reflect your own IP address because forwarding the mail is equivalent to "sending" the mail.