In this epic guide, we’ll dive into all the details you need to know about gmail reverse email lookup.
Whether you received a suspicious email, want to learn more about your prospects, or are looking for an old friend, this guide will answer all your questions.
You’ll learn why reverse email lookup is essential in the first place, the different methods of doing it, and the tools to make the process easier.
But before we get to that, let’s do a little cleanup to make sure we’re on the same page.
what is reverse email lookup?
Has this happened to you?
You receive an email from someone you don’t know. it can be a colleague, an old friend or a relative. but you don’t want to ask as it may seem rude. the worst case scenario is that the sender is a spammer.
Receiving these types of messages is common. but it is not a good idea to ignore them. while email doesn’t provide satisfactory information, a reverse email search will dig a little deeper.
The process allows you to find out who owns that email address by looking up your private and public information available online.
why would you want to reverse the email lookup?
– risk and security analysis
Further research indicates that an average email user receives 16 malicious emails each month. half of these emails are tied to credential spoofing, where the sender attempts to collect system login information from users.
reverse email lookup saves you from these problems. you will know who is behind the email and if it is legitimate.
– confirm the identity of an online friend
Facebook users receive dozens of friend requests a day. this can be the beginning of a lasting friendship. but you can’t just trust everyone you meet online. you would love to know their authenticity and honest intentions.
– verify a seller/buyer online
Before the end of today, online sellers and buyers will have lost more than $55 million due to fraud. therefore, if you are in any doubt about an online purchase or sale, you will want to verify the buyer or seller.
A quick reverse gmail email lookup will clear your doubts by verifying the legitimacy of the person you are about to transact with.
– reconnect with someone
If you’ve lost touch with an old friend or relative but know their email address, you can do a quick reverse email lookup to get their current information.
for example, you’ll get their current name (if they got married and changed it), their phone number, home address, or any other easy way to connect with them.
ways to perform a reverse email lookup to get someone’s gmail address
easy google search
the world’s largest search engine has answers for everything. By having access to all the data available on the world wide web, Google can spit out someone’s details using their email in seconds.
just paste the email into google and search. If the sender has registered on websites, forums or any online platform, Google will track that person’s names and further details.
While this is a quick option, it may take a long time to search if the sender hasn’t used email anywhere.
further reading: how to use gmail’s search operators
use social media platforms
3.69 billion people actively use social media platforms. so there is a higher chance that the sender has a social media profile.
When creating a social media account, most people share their personal information, such as full names, date of birth, home address, and their organizations.
will take advantage of the search option to get these details. For example, when using Facebook, it will type the sender’s email into the search icon and launch it. even if the user has made their profiles private, you will get the real name and picture.
research the domain name
Most companies have personalized email addresses that end with the domain name of their website.
suppose you want to get more information from elon musk, the CEO of spacex. his email address is elon.musk@spacex.com. here, “spacex.com” will be the domain name.
will search for the domain name in google. then browse the website for more details about connecting with elon musk.
if you don’t get any actionable information, contact someone at spacex and ask if they know elon musk.
top gmail reverse email lookup tools
While there are several ways to perform reverse email lookups, the best method is to use reverse email lookup tools.
The tools are fast and effective because they search social media, scour the farthest corners of the internet (even the dark web) to find anything related to the email you provided.
That said, here are my top five tools to try today.
1. clear
With over 100,000 users, clearbit is arguably one of the best free reverse email lookup tools we have.
As a gmail extension and plugin, it appears on the right side of your email to quickly identify the user. In addition, it allows you to find all the information available about the sender. some of these include;
- address
- social media profiles
- position
- company
- colleagues.
Although the software comes with many tools, you can opt for the free plan. Plus, it gives you 100 free reverse email lookups every month.
2. truth seeker
truthfinder is the go-to tool if you are looking for accurate, easy to use and effective reverse email lookup software.
truthfinder will search for all the information you need using its ubiquitous databases, such as date of birth or death, social media profiles, close relative information, assets, and educational background.
What’s interesting is that truthfinder doesn’t limit you to searching for email addresses. In addition to that, you can use the sender’s phone number or name and city.
3. coconut seeker
cocofinder is a big name in the industry. It has even been reviewed on good terms with tech giants like pcworld and techradar. and there are good reasons for its popularity.
unlike other tools with a wide range of tools, cocofinder’s main function is reverse email lookup, so it is very effective.
It works by running the email address you provided through its massive database, looking for any information connected to email, and gets results quickly.
These include the sender’s known aliases, phone numbers (both mobile and landline), social media profiles, current and former addresses.
4. has been verified
beenverified started over a decade ago and has grown its feature base to meet the needs of its users. Because of this, it is currently one of the most widely used reverse email lookup software.
works by combining a vast database of public data aggregated from multiple sources and drills down to extract a vast amount of information. these include the sender’s criminal history, property records, social media profiles, etc.
the verified price comes on a membership form. you can access it at $26.8 for one month or $17.48 per month for three months.
5. nugget
pipl claims to work like google in that it allows you to discover as many details as possible. thanks to its identity resolution engine, which tracks 3 billion trusted identity profiles.
With this capability, the software will quickly locate the address of your person of interest and determine the credibility of the source. then connects the person’s professional and social information and presents the most appropriate data.
the downside is that pipl is not very effective. for example, the reliability of your find depends on how you give it input. also, you have to enter the country code manually, which breaks the user experience.
faq about gmail reverse email
is gmail reverse email lookup legal?
Yes, the Fair Credit Reporting Act oversees reverse email lookup tools to search for unknown emails. therefore, you need not worry that it will cause privacy protection issues.
where do reverse email lookup tools get their information?
the tools have access to important databases of information. these include websites like facebook and google.
In order for the search to be successful, the tools use advanced algorithms that collect information related to what you are looking for, allowing you to find possible results.
Are reverse email lookups the same as email search engines?
not. reverse email lookup tools do the opposite of email search engines. the latter will search for emails using company names and websites.
but reverse email lookup tools use emails or phone numbers to get detailed information about the person of your interest. some of the tools offer both services, which makes it easy to perform all actions on the same platform.
Are search tools only available in the us? uh?
Most search tools have focused on the US market, as the country has one of the highest levels of spam. however, the tools still work with users outside of the us. Although the results depend on how the sender actively uses the email address.
conclusion
The goal of this guide is not to make you go “all detective” in all your inboxes. that won’t be good for your mental health.
I’m saying that if you find a suspicious email from an anonymous sender, take steps to protect your valuable information.
and, in most cases, a reverse email lookup process will work. but if not, it means the sender is not available online and the email is fake.