Many people find them self in a situation where they need to locate or identify a person from an email address. The first thing they will do is go online and look for an email trace, reverse email search or email look up. What they will find as results will vary greatly from free instant online searches to email investigations that can run into thousands of dollars.

Lets take a look at the various service and get a working definition.

REVERSE E-MAIL LOOKUP:

This is almost always a free instant online database search. You put the address into the appropriate field and hopefully it will return a name and address. Common free reverse email look ups are http://Whitepages.com andhttp://Bigfoot.com.

REVERSE E-MAIL SEARCH:

This will usually pop up as an advertisement when your free reverse email look up fails. It's a paid search, usually around thirty to forty dollars. It is also an instant data base . This database will include "unlisted" email address information obtained from lists and online searches. Many times this information will be incorrect or outdated.

Reverse E-mail Trace:

A trace is a full investigation into the real identity of the person that sent the email. It is not instant although the investigation can often be completed quickly. It will often include a header trace and comparison. This will identify the actual person behind the email address and not just the fictitious information anyone can enter when opening a free anonymous e-mail account like Yahoo or Hotmail. An email trace is usually required when you are dealing with online harassment or defamation by a cyber stalker.

The information found in an email look up or reverse email search can be fictitious or made up information. It is also not reliable enough to be used in court where as a reverse email trace report can be used in court if provided by an experienced investigator recognized as an export in the field.

An investigator trained in email tracing can also do an examination of the email headers to see if there is evidence of a forgery or IP spoofing. If necessary he can perform a header comparison to either include or exclude people you suspect sent you an email.

When hiring an investigator to conduct an email investigation be sure to check him out first. Is he considered an expert among his peers? Is he recognized as an authority in the field? It's a very new and unique field of investigation so be sure that the PI you want to hire is qualified.

He should also be well rounded in investigations and capable of doing skip tracing and background reports, As an investigation progresses you never know where it will lead and you can save time and money by staying with the same PI from the beginning to the end of the case.