On a phone, tap the sender’s name at the top of the email to see the full address, then copy it here.
What to do
What you paste stays on your phone
The check runs on your own phone or computer, inside this page. The page’s security setting (a Content Security Policy, a rule the browser enforces) blocks it from connecting to any server after it has loaded, so what you paste stays on your device.
- No account, no sign-up and no cookies.
- It never opens a link or contacts the sender.
- Switch the internet off once the page has loaded, and it still works.
How to check who sent an email
- Look past the name. The name at the top of an email, such as “Ticketmaster”, can be typed by anyone. Tap or hover over it to see the full address in angle brackets, such as <tickets@ticketmaster.com>.
- Read the part after the @ sign. That is the company that owns the address. In tickets@ticketmaster.support-help.com, the address belongs to support-help.com.
- Companies use their own name after the @. A company emails from its own address, not from a free account such as Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo.
- Look for small swaps. A zero for an o, a 1 or capital I for an l, or rn for an m, as in arnazon.com.
- Check where a reply would go. If you press Reply and a different address appears, the reply is going somewhere else.
- Never use the email’s own links or phone numbers to check. Open the company’s app, or type its address yourself, and look for the same message there.
What this check cannot do
It reads the words you paste. Your email service checks behind the scenes whether a message really came from the address shown, using records the company publishes, and this page cannot see those checks. A real company sometimes sends email through a mailing service with a different address, and a criminal can break into a real account and send from it. So no result here proves an email is genuine. The safest check is always the same: open the company’s own app, or type its web address yourself, and look for the message or the order there.
Questions and answers
How do I know who really sent an email?
Tap the sender’s name to see the full address, then read the part after the @ sign. A company emails from its own name, such as ticketmaster.com. Paste the sender line into the check above to compare it with the company the email names.
The email says it is from Ticketmaster but the address is different. Is it fake?
Treat it as unverified. Open the Ticketmaster app or type ticketmaster.com yourself, sign in, and look for the same tickets or message there. Never pay for, transfer or resell tickets through a link in an email.
Is an email from a Gmail or Outlook address always a scam?
No. People use free accounts every day. A company, bank or government body, however, writes from its own address, so a free account that claims to be one is a strong warning sign.
What is a reply-to trick?
An email can show one address at the top and send your reply to another. If you press Reply and a different address appears, do not reply. Contact the company through its app or website instead.
I already replied, clicked or paid. What now?
If you typed a password, change it on the real site and turn on two-step sign-in. If you paid or gave card details, call your bank on the number on your card. The first-hour guide lists the next steps.