An IP address does not provide an individual’s exact residential address. So even if you capture it and do “detective work” by looking it up on the internet, it will not help you prove or disprove anything.

IP addresses rarely trace back to the same town where a user lives. In some cases, they do, but it’s more unlikely than likely.

For example, my IP address traces to a town called Gay. I do not live anywhere near such town. That information has something to do with the service provider, not me.

Before our complex switched providers, the IP address I had traced back to an entirely different state, but I didn’t live there either. Again, that had to do with the service provider, not the service users.

If you want to know if someone lives where they say, you can ask them to provide you with proof of residence and stay tenure, if you’re someone entitled to receive that information.

Do Emails Prove Someone’s Name?

An existing email address with a name attached doesn’t mean it’s the user’s legal name. Anyone can make up an email address with any name that doesn’t belong to them: Joe Blow, John Doe, Tammy Bundleballs, Jesus Christ at so-and-so dot com, or whatever.

Some people do use their real names to create email addresses. But then those names legally change, and the emails stay active until they can disassociate all of their stuff from those addresses.

Such processes could take weeks, months, or years, depending on how much “stuff” is involved, how difficult other entities make the disassociation process, and how long the name existed before it was terminated.

If you want to know if someone is who they say they are, you can ask them to provide you with identification and name change documentation — if you’re someone entitled to receive that information.

I Think This Phone Number Belongs To My Relative/Ex/Friend. Is It True?

A phone number doesn’t belong to a person just because you think it does. Some people change their numbers when they move or end a toxic relationship. Some have more than one number and prefer to use one over the other. Some have a business and personal line. And sometimes, the phone number you think belongs to them is simply not their number.

Tip: Don’t rely on the internet to give you someone’s correct phone number, IP address data, residential address, or any other information. It’s not very reliable.

People also make data entry errors all the time, and customers have to update their accounts when they find such errors. If you want to know someone’s correct phone number, you can ask them to provide you with such a number and see if you get them when you call it. You can also ask them to give you documentation that proves the number is theirs — if you’re someone entitled to receive that information.