Learning how to verify email address owners before hitting send increases the chance that your message will reach the intended recipients. It also protects you from falling for email phishing scams or wasting your time replying to an illegitimate source. Here we examine how you can trace an email address back to its owner using Google search and browser extension lookup, along with the underlying benefits of each method.
1. Google Search
The first and easiest way to verify email address ownership is to use Google. If you received a message from someone who didn’t leave a name or email signature, Google’s search engine is a good place to start. Besides, you can also use it to verify an address from an email list you have purchased. If you search the address, you can see if it matches information in a directory, website, or online profile like LinkedIn.
Reading: How to track who created an email
Alternatively, other search engine platforms like Bing offer the same functionality, although it doesn’t almost as popular as Google. There’s also DuckDuckGo, which lets you browse the web without being tracked, save your personal information, or follow you with online advertising.
2. Social Media
Using social media profiles can be a valuable way to look up an email address – provided you have made that information public. Before launching lead generation campaigns, do some research to confirm email addresses are correct or find potential customers to target.
Use for business -to-consumer business (B2C) Facebook and enter the email address in the search bar where a profile will be displayed if there are matches. If you’re a business-to-business (B2B) organization, LinkedIn is a great site. While you can’t search email addresses for matches, you can search and view profiles. Many users post their work email addresses on their site, even if you’re not affiliated with them.
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3. CRM Auto Enrichment Tools
Many CRM platforms have data enrichment or artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that automatically keep contact information up to date. These tools monitor publicly listed information and include a company website contact page and social media profiles where data, including email address, is constantly updated.
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The main benefit of this method of searching for email Mail addresses is the automation options. Instead of manually searching on Google or Facebook, let the CRM feature do it for you. Freshsales is a CRM system that combines its auto-enrichment tool with its AI feature called Freddy AI. In a contact profile, users can enter an email address and have the rest of the profile enriched with any other data and web links associated with that address.
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4. Search for browser extensions
If you’re a Google Chrome user, you’ll love this unique method of tracing an email address back to its owner. Browser extensions like FullContact compile robust information from your Gmail accounts. Whether you’re receiving an email from a new contact or just doing an email owner lookup, this tool pulls other information from the web such as: For example, job title, company, phone number and social media links.
To Chrome extension alternative option is the additional tool available in Copper CRM. Similar to FullContact, you can look up email address owners or compile data when messages come in from new addresses. The main difference is that Copper is also a full CRM system that can manage leads, contacts, tasks, opportunities and projects in one platform.
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5 . Tracking IP Address
Tracking an IP address using an email header is a sophisticated option and useful when trying to verify an email address for security reasons. The process varies slightly depending on whether you’re using Outlook, Gmail, or Yahoo systems, but ultimately involves the same steps.
When you receive a message, go to the message options to select the E -Display mail headers, which are in different places depending on the email provider. There you can view the IP address the email came from. Next, you can search the address for additional data using an IP address lookup tool such as whatismyip.com.
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There are some limitations when using this method. For example, if the sender used a virtual private network (VPN), the address information may not be correct. This is because VPNs, by design, hide your IP address to give you an extra level of internet security.
6. Use Paid Services
To compile information from all sources at once and gain additional insights about someone, you can invest in a paid service like Spokeo. This platform allows users to search contacts by name, email address, phone number or social media profiles.This service then pulls results for anything related to that person from white pages, public records, websites, and social media profiles.
In addition to obtaining contact information, Spokeo provides address history, work history, and family connections too each person, but costs between $15 and $20 per month. You can also unlock an individual profile for only 95 cents. As this is a paid service, we recommend it for sales teams that heavily use email marketing or email onboarding in their sales activities.
7. Contact the company associated with the email domain
The last way to find the person behind an email address is to just ask. If you’ve received an email from a new sender, want to confirm one from a list, or want to make sure an address is correct before making a performance, you can call the organization and ask. Most email address domain names are associated with the organization they come from.
If you received a message from an address with no name and have exhausted all other options, google the company name on the Address for a phone number. Call the number and ask them to confirm that the address is from their company and find out who the contact person is. This method should ideally be used as a last resort when the other options fail as it takes more time.
Why verify email address owners?
If you don’t know , how to track email address ownership, you can’t verify the sender of a message or verify the address you’re sending to. There are also additional reasons for security, sales productivity and data integrity. Sales management executives should ensure that tools and processes are in place to support their team with email verification.
Here are the key benefits of verifying email address owners:
Helps prevent cybersecurity breaches
Ensures accurate addresses for sales and marketing initiatives
Keeps sales data clean
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can you track someone’s email?
How do I find out who owns a Gmail email address?
Conclusion
Too Knowing how to trace an email address back to its owner is very helpful for security, more efficient sales activities and data integrity. The methods presented range from free to paid options, from manual to automated processes and standalone versus integrating with other software like a CRM. Based on the tools, budget, and technical prowess you have, these seven approaches to email verification will meet your specific business needs.
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