How to Identify Malicious IP Addresses in Email Headers?
Okay, here’s the deal we all get those spammy weird emails every single day, whether it’s your personal Gmail or your work inbox. The crooks are out there trying to fool you with scary warnings or flashy promises. Hence, here you need to understand how to identify malicious IP addresses in email headers.
Some of emails are so well written you might not even blink twice before clicking that shady link but hold up before you get tricked let’s dive into what to look for especially those suspicious IP addresses lurking in the email headers yeah, I know it sounds all techie but stick with me it’s actually not rocket science.
Quick Rewind, What’s an IP
So, an IP address is pretty much the address of a device on the internet think of it like your apartment number in a giant city if someone wants to send you a pizza or a letter, they need that number right same goes for sending data around the internet.
Emails also have these addresses baked inside their headers, so when someone sends you an email, you can trace the IP to figure out where it really came from.
Why Bother to Identify Malicious IP Addresses?
Some of you might be thinking dude why should i care about these numbers well here’s the thing malicious IPs can tell you a lot about whether you’re being scammed or attacked for example attackers can use a legit looking email, but the IP reveals it was sent from a shady server somewhere in a place you would never expect.
It’s like getting a letter from your bank, but the postmark says it came from a weird tiny village in the middle of nowhere, suspicious, right? So, this is important to spot malicious IP addresses to avoid scams.
Real Life Story 1
The finance team, scare date 14 Feb 2023, place Gurgaon, Haryana
So, one of my friends works in a finance team for a mid-sized company in Gurgaon around Valentine’s Day last year, she got an email from what looked like their ceo telling her to transfer 12 lakh rupees to a vendor immediately.
The email seemed perfectly fine logo was correct name was correct signature looked legit, but she got a weird feeling, so she decided to dig into the email headers.
The Received from line showed the email came from an IP address registered in Uzbekistan, 217.174.19.89. She checked it on AbuseIPDB, and it turns out it was reported for phishing just two weeks earlier.
Long story short, she saved the company from losing 12 lakh rupees, and the attacker got nothing. Hence, you need to identify malicious IP addresses.
How to Identify Malicious IP Addresses?
Okay so you wanna be a bit like my friend here’s how to do that first open the email then look for show original or view message source If you use Gmail it’s under the three dots in the corner If you use Outlook it’s buried under properties
Inside all that ugly-looking text, you’ll see something like Received from, followed by an IP copy that IP and check it on sites like VirusTotal or abuseipd; those will tell you if that address has been flagged before
Real Life Story 2
The fake Netflix date was 2 June 2024, place Mumbai
I got this email on a Sunday morning half asleep. It said my Netflix account was suspended. I needed to update my payment right away, otherwise they’d close my account forever.
The link in the email looked fine to my sleepy eyes. but then I remembered all those phishing scams, so I checked the headers.
Turns out the mail came from 103.54.29.202, traced back to a datacenter in Russia, and had been reported for spreading banking trojans. If I had clicked that link, they could have easily stolen my credit card info Scary stuff.
How to Tell Ff an IP is Shady?
Honestly, it takes two minutes tops copy that IP throw it into a search on VirusTotal or abuseIPDB, or even just Google it, look for these signs.
- Is it from a country you would never expect
- Is it reported as spam or malware
- Is it a known hosting server with no legit business if any of these pop-up run for the hills
Real Life Story 3
The wedding invitation malware date 28 September 2023, place Noida
My cousin was getting married, so lots of invites were flying around one afternoon. Someone from their office opened a wedding invite with a cute PDF attachment it looked harmless.
But the email header said Received from 45.143.220.13, which showed up as flagged for malware on multiple security feeds.
Turns out the attachment was loaded with a remote access trojan. If they had opened it, the attacker could’ve taken over their entire laptop including webcam, and all they reported it to IT and saved their network from a nightmare.
Quick Lazy Person’s Checklist
I get it, no one wants to read email headers for fun. So if you’re in a rush, just keep these in mind
- Random or urgent tone in the subject line
- Sender domain slightly misspelled like amaz0n instead of amazon
- Unexpected attachments
- Links that look off when you hover over them
- The first IP address in the header looks weird or comes from unknown spot if
You spot any of those pause and check, these points help you to identify malicious IP addresses.
Real Life Story 4
The doctor’s office hack date 9 January 2025, place Pune
My friend’s sister works at a doctor’s clinic. They got an email from what seemed to be their software vendor asking for a password reset due to a supposed security breach.
She was about to follow through, but took a second to look at the headers. Good call because the email came from 185.107.56.231. Which is a server in Romania flagged multiple times for healthcare data theft. One click and their entire patient database would have been stolen.
Final Words
Look you don’t need to be some cybersecurity superhero to protect yourself. Just take a few minutes to learn where to find those email headers and how to paste an IP into a lookup site. It’s honestly not as scary as it sounds think of it like checking the delivery address before you sign a package. If it says you live in antarctica you know it’s fake.
So next time you get that big scary or too good to be true email don’t panic. Just pop open the headers and peek at the IP, you’ll thank yourself later. I hope that now anyone can easily identify malicious IP address in email headers.
Stay safe, keep calm, and trust your gut if it feels fishy, it probably is