Trace the origin of an email abuser?, Part 2

Since yesterday's article on Tracing the Origins of an Email Abuser through IP addresses, I have received two interesting comments from Readers. The first message comes a user named 'Luvaas', who writes:

" Dear Dennis,

I suspect that someone has accessed my online cell phone account and has snooped around my phone records. I have a pretty good idea who did it, but the phone company tells me that they have no way they can trace this individual. Any ideas? "

Side note: IP address stands for Internet Protocol. All computers connected to the Internet have a unique IP address, which is how computers on the Internet are able to communicate with one another. IP addresses also allow us to trace and determine the location of other computers connected to the Internet.

My response:

The phone company's web server should keep log files of all IP addresses from visitors who visit their web site -- including those who who log in to their cell phone accounts.

The problem is that (in many cases), log files are rotated on a weekly / monthly basis and older data is overwritten. If this incident happened a while back, the log file may have already been deleted. The only possibility I see is for you is to call the phone company and ask to speak to someone in charge of the company's web development, and state your case. I have to be honest: this request is quite a bit out of the ordinary and you may be refused -- but it's worth a shot.

Moving along to the next email: Infopackets Reader John L. wrote in and informed me of a helpful web site related to Tracing the Origins of an Email Abuser:

" Dear Dennis,

[I just got done reading yesterday's article and thought your Readers may be interested in] ... an excellent resource on finding all kinds of information on domains and IP addresses. It's from a web site called 'DNSstuff.com'. I have used it to track spam and abusive emails for a while now and have found it to be a very useful site. It contains a links page that will help beginners with the basics, plus it gives access to advanced DNS [Domain Name Server] and MX [Mail Server] Records, which provide essential information when it comes time to report evildoers to the Internet authorities. I hope this will help your Readers. Please keep up the good work! "

http://www.dnsstuff.com/

PS: If you didn't get a chance to read yesterday's article, you can read it online:

Trace the origin of an email abuser?