IP Address Lookup
An IP address lookup determines the location of any IP address. The results provide quite a bit of information. Details include city, state/region, postal/zip code, country name, ISP, and time zone. As a result, this data is used by various agencies to find the owner of an IPv4 or IPv6 address.
IP Address Location Results
It's important to understand that no IP lookup tool is 100% accurate. IP location lookup results are shown from several different IP location databases, and each database reports differently. The country region city are often inline with the actual geographical location of the IP.
Why does my IP address show a different state?
There are many other factors as to why the geolocation data results are not 100% accurate. Factors include:
- Where the IP address was registered
- Where the controlling agency is located
- Whether the user has a proxy or VPN
- Whether the connection is cellular or not
For example, if you are in the US and the controlling agency of the IP is located in Canada, the IP address location lookup data may show Canada as the IP location. It is not uncommon to see a Canadian IP while searching an IP address in the northern US while on a mobile device.
IP Address Results
When using an IP address lookup tool, users often think they are going to find the exact location of an IP address. This is simply not true. No Internet Protocol (IP) address database can provide the exact physical address of an IP address location. At best, you'll get the exact city in which the user of the IP is located.
Only the Internet Service Provider (ISP) can provide an exact physical address of an IP. ISPs usually have logs of which user was assigned an IP at any given time. There are usually limits as to how long an ISP stores these records. However, without a police warrant, or some sort of legal document, the ISP is unlikely to turn over any information.
If you receive an offensive or fraudulent email, don't expect an ISP to give you the mailing address of the user of that IP address. Instead, turn over the communications to the authorities and let them do their job.
Update Your IP Location
If you find that your IP geolocation information is incorrect, you can always reach out to any of our IP location data providers and update your IP address location.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if someone has sent a harassing or potentially fraudulent communication, the best you can do is to file a complaint with the authorities or the ISP. Then, forward all the relevant information from the questionable communication.