Getting the IP Address of a Craigslist Poster
October 4, 2007 10:41 AM Subscribe
How to find the email address of an anonymous craigslist poster?
Someone posted in the m4m section on craigslist pretending to be a friend of mine saying how he wanted to have sex with guys as well as a bunch of other really nasty stuff. I'm going to try to find the IP address of whoever did the craigslist post to narrow down who it might have been. I've included my plan below, let me know if there is anything that is missing, because I've only read about how this was done to someone, and never actually seen the instructions.
1) Create a fake throw-away blog and post some pics in one of the entries. Don't list it in the blogger database or anywhere else, and include a robots.txt file saying not to crawl the site.
2) Install a statstracker like statcounter that logs IP addresses.
3) Email the anonymous craigslist posting with a link to the blogpost, and watch for a click on the statcounter, and then check out the IP address.
My question is, I would prefer to do this without a blogpost, because people don't normally put pictures on a blog post, so is there another easy/quick/free way to do this same thing but with just a picture hosted somewhere?
Someone posted in the m4m section on craigslist pretending to be a friend of mine saying how he wanted to have sex with guys as well as a bunch of other really nasty stuff. I'm going to try to find the IP address of whoever did the craigslist post to narrow down who it might have been. I've included my plan below, let me know if there is anything that is missing, because I've only read about how this was done to someone, and never actually seen the instructions.
1) Create a fake throw-away blog and post some pics in one of the entries. Don't list it in the blogger database or anywhere else, and include a robots.txt file saying not to crawl the site.
2) Install a statstracker like statcounter that logs IP addresses.
3) Email the anonymous craigslist posting with a link to the blogpost, and watch for a click on the statcounter, and then check out the IP address.
My question is, I would prefer to do this without a blogpost, because people don't normally put pictures on a blog post, so is there another easy/quick/free way to do this same thing but with just a picture hosted somewhere?
This post was deleted for the following reason: poster's request
andoatnp: Someone posted in the m4m section on craigslist pretending to be a friend of mine saying how he wanted to have sex with guys as well as a bunch of other really nasty stuff.
I'm sorry, but I have to say I hope it's just an awkward sentence you've put together, because I find it pretty offensive to imply that your male friend wanting "to have sex with guys" is "really nasty stuff".
If you're concerned about the content of the post then the first step should be addressing Craigslist staff, no?
posted by loiseau at 10:50 AM on October 4, 2007
I'm sorry, but I have to say I hope it's just an awkward sentence you've put together, because I find it pretty offensive to imply that your male friend wanting "to have sex with guys" is "really nasty stuff".
If you're concerned about the content of the post then the first step should be addressing Craigslist staff, no?
posted by loiseau at 10:50 AM on October 4, 2007
louseau: i don't think the poster was implying that gay sex is nasty.
posting false solicitations for sex attributed to another person without their knowledge is a mean, nasty, despicable thing to do to someone.
posted by uaudio at 10:56 AM on October 4, 2007
posting false solicitations for sex attributed to another person without their knowledge is a mean, nasty, despicable thing to do to someone.
posted by uaudio at 10:56 AM on October 4, 2007
Response by poster: For the record, no I don't think gay sex is "really nasty stuff". I don't think my post implied I thought that, but I just wanted to correct any mis-impressions.
posted by andoatnp at 11:00 AM on October 4, 2007
posted by andoatnp at 11:00 AM on October 4, 2007
Response by poster: Also, the post has been flagged enough to come down, but there is still an interest in seeing who did this, and more importantly using an IP address to potentially rule out some of the people he might blame.
posted by andoatnp at 11:01 AM on October 4, 2007
posted by andoatnp at 11:01 AM on October 4, 2007
I think you'd have much better results just replying to the ad as if you were interested. Won't the IP show up in the header of his return e-mail to you? If the IP leads you to some huge university or corporation, then what?
posted by desjardins at 11:03 AM on October 4, 2007
posted by desjardins at 11:03 AM on October 4, 2007
It's unlikely you can get his IP. The best way to find out his identity is to get him to send you an email, but you probably couldn't get his IP address this way because he's probably using web email, in which case the only IP address you'll see is of gmail/yahoo/hotmail/whatever.
posted by mpls2 at 11:09 AM on October 4, 2007
posted by mpls2 at 11:09 AM on October 4, 2007
"posting false solicitations for sex attributed to another person without their knowledge is a mean, nasty, despicable thing to do to someone."
It is also against the TOS of craigslist, to the point where you get an extra warning about it indicating fines, consequences, etc. when you post something in the personals section.
I'd have your friend contact the craigslist folks and start from there.
posted by mikepop at 11:11 AM on October 4, 2007
It is also against the TOS of craigslist, to the point where you get an extra warning about it indicating fines, consequences, etc. when you post something in the personals section.
I'd have your friend contact the craigslist folks and start from there.
posted by mikepop at 11:11 AM on October 4, 2007
"in which case the only IP address you'll see is of gmail/yahoo/hotmail/whatever"
IIRC, you can still get the sender's IP if they use yahoo or hotmail, but not gmail. I am sure someone will correct me if this has changed.
posted by mikepop at 11:13 AM on October 4, 2007
IIRC, you can still get the sender's IP if they use yahoo or hotmail, but not gmail. I am sure someone will correct me if this has changed.
posted by mikepop at 11:13 AM on October 4, 2007
I don't think I understand your plan at all. Why would you need pictures? Pictures of what? But I second mikepop. Alert the craigslist folks.
posted by trip and a half at 11:23 AM on October 4, 2007
posted by trip and a half at 11:23 AM on October 4, 2007
Response by poster: trip and a half: a common way to respond to a m4m craigslist ad is to write back and say you're interested, include a description of yourself, and attach a picture or include a link to one. I would put the pictures on a site with a statcounter to try to get the IP address of the visitor, as all email systems don't provide you with an IP address, so I can't rely on his reply.
Does that make sense?
posted by andoatnp at 11:44 AM on October 4, 2007
Does that make sense?
posted by andoatnp at 11:44 AM on October 4, 2007
Just get the guy to respond to an email. Pull his IP address from the email. You'll generally have to find an option in whatever webmail/email program you choose to use for viewing "full headers". There'll likely be a few IP adresses, but you'll figure out which is the end-users pretty quick witha few trace routes.
Check emails from your friends/suspects for matching IPs.
Visit the bookstore and buy them some books on dealing with/overcoming homophobia. Read them. Then give them to the jerk in question - anonymously, or you can expect the cycle to repeat.
posted by terpia at 11:46 AM on October 4, 2007
Check emails from your friends/suspects for matching IPs.
Visit the bookstore and buy them some books on dealing with/overcoming homophobia. Read them. Then give them to the jerk in question - anonymously, or you can expect the cycle to repeat.
posted by terpia at 11:46 AM on October 4, 2007
Best answer: While staying away from the advisability of the scheme, I will note that the plan you suggest would almost certainly work at identifying the IP. If you send an HTML email with the picture embedded, his or her IP will hit whatever web server that picture is hosted on. If you have logging configured correctly, you can get the IP. A few things to note, however:
1. If his or her mail client blocks automatic downloading of photos, this could fail.
2. The IP is unlikely to identify the original poster with any kind of certainty. At best, you can look up who owns the IP block and get a general idea of his location.
3. Unless you have a clear suspect and know his or her ip address, this is likely to be a fool's errand.
If your intent is to extract some kind of revenge, I suppose you could do something without knowing the original posters name but that's pretty dicey legally.
posted by MasterShake at 11:55 AM on October 4, 2007
1. If his or her mail client blocks automatic downloading of photos, this could fail.
2. The IP is unlikely to identify the original poster with any kind of certainty. At best, you can look up who owns the IP block and get a general idea of his location.
3. Unless you have a clear suspect and know his or her ip address, this is likely to be a fool's errand.
If your intent is to extract some kind of revenge, I suppose you could do something without knowing the original posters name but that's pretty dicey legally.
posted by MasterShake at 11:55 AM on October 4, 2007
E-mail won't be adequate--although some webmailers include the originating IP in Received: or X-Originating-IP:, many don't. A web hit is the best way. This too can be made useless by the simplest paranoia, though.
Would this person bother to respond anyway? Just smearing someone passively is one thing and doesn't necessarily mean replies are being checked.
posted by deeaytch at 11:57 AM on October 4, 2007
Would this person bother to respond anyway? Just smearing someone passively is one thing and doesn't necessarily mean replies are being checked.
posted by deeaytch at 11:57 AM on October 4, 2007
Trip and a half: Each computer (RFC1918 aside) on the 'net has a unique number assigned to it, and it's possible to see what Internet provider controls that number. When you tell your web browser to show you an image, it sends a message to some computer on the 'Net, saying "send file 'foo' to computer number foo".
OP wants to send the person who is reading mail at the Cl-address a metaphorical bag with a note that says "hold this to your head and pull the trigger". He'll then follow the noise it makes.
Of course, anyone can make that noise and OP may accuse the wrong person if the poser is smarter than the average bear.
posted by cmiller at 12:02 PM on October 4, 2007
OP wants to send the person who is reading mail at the Cl-address a metaphorical bag with a note that says "hold this to your head and pull the trigger". He'll then follow the noise it makes.
Of course, anyone can make that noise and OP may accuse the wrong person if the poser is smarter than the average bear.
posted by cmiller at 12:02 PM on October 4, 2007
Even if you had the IP address, wouldn't you still have to sue his Internet service provider to actually get a name? AFIK, they don't just give that information out freely.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 12:04 PM on October 4, 2007
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 12:04 PM on October 4, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by gnutron at 10:44 AM on October 4, 2007