TOTALLY OT, but how do I prove 2 different emails came from the same person?

Ok - I have someone playing games with me, but I need to verify for sure before I can take measures against it.

If one person uses two separate email addresses to email you, how do you prove they both came from the same person? Do you need the headers or can you do it by using the email address? I need someone to explain it to me.

THANKS!!!!

i dont know. is there an IP address attached anywhere? sorry but things like that are hard to prove.
shan

To identify the emails came from the same IP address, check the headers. There may also be clues, depending on mail program, that show similarities between the sender's machine. It is possible for two emails to originate from different IP addresses and yet the same computer, but highly unlikely that two emails with the same originating IP would be coming from different computers (unless it came from a network sharing a connection). If IPs are different, but in the same leased range (do a whois using samspade.org), it could still be the same computer, just an expired IP lease. It is typical every 5-7 days for a SP to renew IP assignments to customer connections.

The whois lookup will let you know if both IPs (if they are different) are leased by the same SP.

OK - one address comes from peoplepc.com and one is yahoo.com. Does that make a difference?

not really.

do they have the same content?

That makes it pretty tough. There may be other ways. But the only one I know of is to get a court order and go to peoplepc and yahoo and get access to the account holders info.

My husband is working on it. He works with a total computer guru so he's having him look into it.

eddarr wrote in post #5280212
That makes it pretty tough. There may be other ways. But the only one I know of is to get a court order and go to peoplepc and yahoo and get access to the account holders info.

...and almost impossible. In most states, the content of the email has to be life-threatening to even get the police involved. You could always contact the service provider (via email) and explain your situation (assuming you are being spammed/harassed regularly). Its up to them whether they choose to release the user lease times or not (good luck with that!).

Just last week, one of the worst spammers on the internet was sentenced to prison time, so you could go the federal route too. I believe the FBI are the ones that hold a response/research division now for internet attacks and harassment, and they might be easier to convince than the state police.

Find a funny joke.
Send him half of it at one address, and then, the second half at the other. If he laughs, he is caught!

Seriously, unless you involve police and an investigation is done, chances are almost 0 you can trace it back.

tiziano wrote in post #5288446
Find a funny joke.
Send him half of it at one address, and then, the second half at the other. If he laughs, he is caught!

That's funny...seriously very funny!

Check the headers. Full headers will list the name and IP address of the originating computer. But if s/he used a web-based e-mail system that won't work; only if the originating computer was the "home" computer, not a server.

I have been told by some one who speaks geek for a living, that an IP address in the header is easy to fake. In other words, make it look like it came from a NY address, when it actually came from LA address.

This is for spam, but maybe it will help. I never tried it, but it looks interesting.
http://email.about.com …eneral/a/spam_h​eaders.htm
http://www.spamcop.net​/

Darsk47 wrote in post #5289729
I have been told by some one who speaks geek for a living, that an IP address in the header is easy to fake. In other words, make it look like it came from a NY address, when it actually came from LA address.

Yes, that's very easy if you setup your own email server, or there are softwares or dedicated sites that will offer you this service for free. But, you don't need to go through the hassle: it's enough to simply create two different email addresses from any provider like yahoo or hotmail, without giving them your real personal data, and you are done. only the police will be able to trace you back.