Trace the Source
Find the email source domain and abuse contacts.
Spam Email Tracing and Reporting for macOS
Trace Spam to Its Source. Prepare the Report.
True Origins is a spam email tracing and reporting tool for Apple Mail. Select a spam, phishing, scam, or abusive message and True Origins analyzes its delivery headers to identify the likely SMTP origin, source IP, sending domain, and appropriate abuse-reporting contacts.
It then prepares a detailed complaint as an Apple Mail draft for you to review. Nothing is sent automatically, and you remain in control of the final report.
The Successor to SpamX (Sp@mX)
True Origins is the successor to SpamX, also written Sp@mX, the spam reporting tool previously authored by Jeff Hendrickson. If you came here looking for SpamX, spamx, Sp@mX, or sp@mx, you are in the right place. True Origins continues that work: it traces spam to its source, finds the right abuse contacts, and prepares the report for you in Apple Mail.
Product History and Press
Trace Spam and Suspicious Email Through SMTP Headers
Every email server adds routing information to the message's SMTP headers. True Origins reads that routing information for legitimate delivery artifacts and determines the actual source of the spam, along with any embedded HTML links. It then looks up legitimate abuse reporting email addresses and composes an Apple Mail message for you to send.
Smarter Abuse-Contact Routing in Version 1.1
True Origins checks abuse.net, and WHOIS for useful reporting contacts. If the only contact belongs to a recognized domain registrar, including MarkMonitor and other major registrars, reporting to that registrar may not reach the organization responsible for the email. In that case, True Origins uses the sending domain's standard abuse@domain address defined by RFC 2142.
Email Origin Analysis and Abuse-Reporting Features
Rank Abuse Contacts
Use complaint headers, provider signals, abuse.net, and WHOIS evidence while avoiding registrar-only contacts that are not appropriate reporting destinations.
Explain Confidence
Based on the email header content, and forwarding clues, header mismatches, and other reasons to trust the email trace.
Prepare the Report
Create an Apple Mail draft with the analysis and the original message attached and ready to review.
Review Authentication and Delivery Evidence
Modern spam often passes through mailing platforms, forwarders, feedback loops, and authentication layers. True Origins keeps that context visible instead of flattening every case into a single guessed address.
- Forwarding-aware tracing for messages with forwarded delivery history.
- Registered-domain extraction from long hostnames such as campaign and mail infrastructure subdomains.
- SPF, DKIM, DMARC, ARC, and BIMI snippets when authentication evidence is available.
- Provider clues from headers such as X-Report-Abuse-To, CFBL-Address, X-Mailgun, X-AntiAbuse, and authenticated SMTP fields.
- Relevant message summary fields and embedded URL domains for the first layer of investigation.
How True Origins Works with Apple Mail
Select a Message
Start with one or more suspicious messages in Apple Mail.
Analyze
Run True Origins to inspect the raw source and build a concise report.
Review
Check the source, confidence, warnings, and abuse-contact recommendations before sending anything.
Report
True Origins creates an Apple Mail draft with the abuse contacts listed in the CC field. Simply drag the contacts you want to use into the To field, review the report, and send it.
Get True Origins on the Mac App Store
True Origins requires Apple Mail on macOS 12.0 or later. The U.S. Mac App Store lists it at $2.99; price and availability may vary by region.
Mac App Store
Available for macOS 12.0 or later
Frequently Asked Questions
Is True Origins the successor to SpamX (Sp@mX)?
Yes. True Origins is the successor to SpamX, also written Sp@mX, the spam reporting tool previously authored by Jeff Hendrickson. If you are looking for SpamX, spamx, Sp@mX, or sp@mx, True Origins is where that work continues, for Apple Mail on macOS.
Can True Origins help me trace and report spam email?
Yes. True Origins is an email header analyzer for Apple Mail that helps you trace and report spam email. It identifies likely SMTP origin clues and abuse-reporting contacts, then prepares a report for you to review before sending.
Is True Origins a spam filter?
No. True Origins does not filter, block, or automatically delete email. It analyzes messages you select in Apple Mail so you can investigate and report them.
What email evidence does True Origins analyze?
True Origins examines raw SMTP headers, Received chains, source IP and domain clues, forwarding evidence, and authentication signals such as SPF, DKIM, DMARC, ARC, and BIMI when available.
Does True Origins send abuse reports automatically?
No. Nothing is sent automatically. True Origins lets you review the analysis and will create an Apple Mail draft that you control before sending.
How does True Origins choose an abuse address?
True Origins checks provider signals, abuse.net, and WHOIS. If the only result is a recognized domain-registrar contact, including a MarkMonitor contact, it uses the domain's RFC 2142 abuse address instead. Legitimate abuse contacts are preserved.
What does True Origins require?
True Origins requires Apple Mail on macOS 12.0 or later and is available through the Mac App Store.
How much does True Origins cost?
The U.S. Mac App Store lists True Origins at $2.99. Price and availability may vary by country or region.