Email is similar to a postcard. The "From" address can be spoofed and appear to come from anyone. Email headers are the only way to verify the origin of an email message. Email headers are the extra text at the beginning of an email message that record the route the message took. Most email clients do not display the full email headers by default, so extra steps are need to view this valuable information.
To View Email Headers in Gmail
- Click the options drop down arrow in the upper right corner of the message
- Click on Show original in the menu that is displayed ( a new browser tab will open with the full email text )
The new browser tab that opens will have some basic information about the message at the top and the full email message including headers below. To report a suspicious email click the 'Copy to clipboard' button, which will copy the contents of the full email message. Then compose a new message to phish@tcnj.edu and paste the full email content in the message body. Messages sent to phish@tcnj.edu go directly to Systems and Security Administrators, so they can create rules to block suspicious emails and protect the TCNJ community.