Not so long ago, a girl committed suicide because of messages that she was getting through the popular social networking site MySpace. This does not mean that MySpace is evil, but hopefully it was a wake up call for parents to know what their children are doing online, even if they feel they are being snoopy. Though you may not think of messages through MySpace as being email, they are. Not everyone behaves online, and there are times when email addresses can be harassing in nature, and even dangerous.
The nature of email makes it possible for people to think they are sending out messages that are anonymous, but that is rarely the case. There are some that know how to do this, but most Internet users have no idea. They just assume leaving their name off of an account means they are untraceable. That is simply not true, as many people have found out. They may feel free to send messages that are sinister and harassing in nature because they think no one will know who they are.
Though the line between a heated and illegal email is gray, and not all locations or jurisdictions with the US have the same laws, there are some that are definitely illegal. Some districts have deemed anything harassing to be illegal, no matter if it is going through phone lines, mail letters, electronic communications, or in person. Those that have this type of harassment in mind often use email because they think it is hard to trace. With the law on someone's side, a lawyer can get a service provider to hand over identifying information.
You may not know if a harassing email coming into your inbox is illegal where you live or not, but that does not mean you should not do something about it. You can try to find out about the laws where you live, and you can contact the authorities if you feel threatened in any way. You can also forward the email to your service provider, and then call them with an explanation to see if there is anything that they can do.
You may want to know who sent the email. You can find some limited information if you do a reverse email lookup Not all are traceable however. No matter what you find, do nothing with that information unless you want to turn it over to the authorities. Do not respond to such an email, and do not use what you find to contact the source of the email. You know who to avoid, if need be, but you don't want them to know you are on to them if they insist on remaining anonymous. Let the authorities deal with the problem for you.
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