Preventing Spam: How to Forward an E-mail Message with Full Headers

What is the purpose of sending full headers?

E-mail headers provide detailed tracking information about the source of the e-mail message and the route that it took on delivery. This information is normally not transmitted when you forward a message to another user. Authorities need comprehensive details for inspecting and investigating a suspicious e-mail message. Full headers can help to reveal the source of the e-mail message.

Who should I send or forward my message to? 

Share any malicious messages with the proper authority.

If the message is fraud - If you receive an e-mail message that you suspect is fraudulent, please forward it to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov with full headers. Examples of fraudulent e-mail messages are the Nigerian inheritance scam, or a false solicitation to update your bank account. 

If the message appears to come froma Georgetown e-mail address: If the message appears to originate from a Georgetown University e-mail address, please forward it to abuse@georgetown.edu with full headers.

If the message contains illegal content - If you receive a message that may contain illegal material, please call the Office of the University Counsel at (202) 687-6457. Do not forward copies of any e-mail that may contain illegal material unless authorized by the Office of University Counsel or the appropriate authority. Examples of illegal material include nude photos of underage children.

How to show full message headers in Mozilla or Thunderbird E-mail

By default, you will only see minimal information at the top of your e-mail messages.

 

To show the message's full headers, go to the main menu and click View. A menu will appear. Click Headers. Another menu will appear next to Headers. Click All.

 

The full message headers will appear. You can now forward the message to the proper authorities.