iMessage - identify whether message was sent to my phone number or email address?

[bmac89]

Hello,

Is it possible to determine which id (mobile number or email address) an incoming iMessage was sent to?

For example, I have my mobile number and 3 email addresses set up in iMessage & I am receiving some junk messages but want to confirm whether they were sent to my mobile number or email address/& which one, so I can cut them off?

In the mail app it is possible to see sender and recipient email addresses in the header and hence determine if the email was forwarded from one of your alias accounts. However it seems this is not possible in iMessage and you can only see the senders number or email address in an incoming iMessage.

Any help would be appreciated - thanks.

 

[0128672]

I don't believe there's a way to tell and agree it would be useful to know. In general I think most businesses text to your phone number. Most of the spam messages I get are to my phone number, and I only know that because it started after switching providers and changing my number.

I'm sure you've considered this, but you could test by disabling the email addresses temporarily.

 

[BigBlur]

It can be done by using tools like SQLite to look at the messages database contained in an iPhone backup (or directly from the messages database if you're using Messages on a Mac).

Analyzing iMessage with SQL

You can use SQL to search your old iMessage data - and learn some surprising facts about the people you text along the way.

arctype.com

 

[Azathoth123]

In general I think most businesses text to your phone number.

I almost never give businesses my correct phone number. My financial institutions, medical institutions, and government services, etc have it but not businesses that I buy stuff from. Vendors don’t need my phone number for any legitimate use, and in many years, me giving them a false phone number has never caused a single problem. For me anyway!

 

[MacRumorUser78]

It can be done by using tools like SQLite to look at the messages database contained in an iPhone backup (or directly from the messages database if you're using Messages on a Mac).

Analyzing iMessage with SQL

You can use SQL to search your old iMessage data - and learn some surprising facts about the people you text along the way.

arctype.com

Link didn't work, but found `/Library/Messages/chat.db`. Couldn't open in DB browser but could in text editor, Save As, then could open the copy. Found chat_identifer and then my phone number among my four possibilities.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Blocking a contact doesn’t require knowing which address it was sent TO - just where it came FROM.

Report spam and block senders in Messages on iPhone

In Messages on iPhone, report spam messages, recover messages from the Spam folder, and block unwanted messages.

support.apple.com

 

[dokuan]

A bit late but I think I've found a not-so-straightforward way to do this.

In the search bar in message app, type your email or phone number that you use for iMessage. This should prompt the app to show all of the threads linked to that address. You can further type the recipient's name (as saved in your contacts) next to a given address of yours, if the app shows the recipient up then that's it, otherwise try the other addresses. Another way is to type your address, then add the content of a message you've exchanged with that recipient. These all work for me.

One note is that, for phone numbers, you might need to include your country code, such as +11 123 456 789 instead of just typing 0123456789.

Cheers :')