- 1). Go to Hotmail's website and click on the link to sign up for a new account.
- 2). Fill out the information on the following page regarding your name and region. The information doesn't need to be accurate since you won't be actually setting up an account, so the info won't be saved. Advance to the next screen.
- 3). Enter the Hotmail address you wish to check in the "Windows Live ID" space and click on "Check Availability." If the address is available, there is not a Hotmail account currently in use under that name. If it isn't, the account has already been taken by someone at some point.
- 4). Enter the Hotmail account email address into a search engine to see if a result comes up that links it to someone's name. Since anyone can enter false information when setting up a Hotmail account, tracking an account to a person is not likely but it may be traceable if someone has used the account for other things on the Internet such as message boards or online ads.
- 5). Contact the police department if you believe the owner of the email account is involved in illegal activity. The police department could then possibly trace the ISP address back to a physical location by subpoenaing the Internet provider for the computer that is using that email address, but it is a difficult process and is not likely to succeed.
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