How to Find Out if an Email Address Is Legitimate?

Techwalla may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.
You've got email

There are so many scam artists out there that you need to be diligent in protecting yourself against them. For one thing, you need to make sure that you thoroughly check out any email addresses that show up in your in-box without your consent. This can protect you from future spam, as well as protect you from becoming a victim of some senseless scam. You may also want to check out the email addresses of any businesses or charities you plan on becoming involved with.

Advertisement

Step 1

Go to Email Finder's homepage (see Resources). Type the email address in question in the box and click "Search." If the email is legit, it will come back with a company name, location and IP address.

Video of the Day

Step 2

Open a Yahoo email account just for testing suspicious emails. You don't want to use your own email, because this could set off a spam attack.

Advertisement

Step 3

Click "Compose" or "New Mail" and place the email address in question in the "To" box. Type "Testing" in the subject line and again in the body of the email. Click "Send."

Step 4

Wait a few minutes to see if the email comes back as "Undeliverable." If it does, that means the email address is not valid.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Step 5

Use the BBB (see References) to determine if an email address is legitimate. This step only works if the email address is associated with some type of business or charity. Just type the email address in the email address box and click search. The search results will then appear, and you will be able to see whether the email address and the company are legitimate or whether there are complaints against them.

Advertisement

Advertisement

references & resources

Report an Issue

screenshot of the current page

Screenshot loading...