Is it possible to send an anonymous email, or can ID be traced back to computer?

Our neighborhood is being terrorized by a teenage drug abuser whose family moved into our area recently. He had broken into 3 homes shortly after they moved in - was arrested, but now is out on bail and pretty much doing whatever he wants whenever he wants while the parents turn a blind eye. Their presence in this neighborhood is the direct result of a decision by board members of a local Episcopal church - who moved them into this area, although they were fully aware of the boy's history of drug abuse and crime. (We notice they didn't move him into any of THEIR own neighborhoods....)
We want to send an anonymous letter of formal complaint to the church board members. Not that there would be anything threatening or improper in the letter - but no neighbors want to be personally identified and perhaps draw the ire of the troubled young man and his father.
It's easy to set up a "bogus" email address....but if there is no personal information included, can it be traced?

Yes it can indeed be traced. Your IP address is contained in the full header to the e-mail. Instead, you should just send an anonymous letter, the old fashioned way. However, it really won't help you to deal with your current problem. Being more aggressive is probably the best route. Tell the local newspaper and TV stations what happened. You can do this anonymously. Also, if your property is being damaged, go see an attorney ASAP. There are plenty of legal remedies available to you.

you could call him from like a phonebooth that can be traced or when you dial his number put star 67 and the number on any caller id comes up as restricted

not by the church, unless they have a police officer friend... i doubt it would be feasible for a church to be able to trace something like that...

This is an Episcopal church you're dealing with, not the CIA. Yes it is possible to trace an e-mail like that through the use of server logs and IP tracing, but that is WAY beyond the capacity of a church. You'd need to have some serious connections to pull that off.

Did you know you can use paper and a pen and actually write words on it, put it in an envelope, and have it delivered by the USPS?

Any e-mail can be traced to the computer where it was sent from by the I.P. address (Internet Protocol). Sometimes they are traced back to Internet Cafe's and it's difficult to prove who actually sent the email if it's from a bogus e-mail address, etc...

I don't know if it is possible to trace back to a computer. But, if it is possible, I doubt the Church Board Members would try to trace it back; to much trouble. If it is possible to be traced back to your computer, send it from a internet cafe and use a bogus email address

Pen a letter lazy!

anything can be traced if its important enough but i dont think someone as useless as that would go through all the trouble to find out who was the one who called or whatever....just do what you have to do and if someone calls you on it be like well im doing whats best for me and those around me. your trying to make a safe enviroment to live in theres nothing wrong with that!

Sending an email is always trackable.
Regular mail takes longer but is trackable.
Anyhow, this is a Church group that I assume is a neighborhood homeowners assoc?

Send them a letter addressed with your info and a threat to shove a gun up their *** and pull the trigger if they don't practice what they freaking preach!

Because they are a church, they deem themselves above the rest? They are no better than Bush and Clinton and their cronie elites!

All f**king Hypocrites!!!!

They can track every thing back to the IP address.

You can get a fake email account and email them bu they can always track your ip address. I can suggest you to go away from your house and email them from somewhere public. So they can track the ip address but can't do anything with it.

Things I need to know.
Who are this we you keep speaking about?
Have you approached the church?
I do not see how a church can dictate where anyone lives.
I could see how they may think there is a place this person might redeem themselves by living in a better environment.
But there are no guarantees.
If there is this great consensus of we, then just make sure....SURE... you have your facts straight and then several of you go to the church and request a meeting with the board.
How do you KNOW that no members of that congregation of believers live in your neighborhood?
Why would you and the we be scared to let the people know who wants to air out their differences in person?
Most bodies of believers would rather dialog than have people angry and feeling let down.
I think some of this smells fishy.
That is my opinion.
Have a blessed day.
Doodad

Yes, it is possible that they can find out who wrote the email. You could always write them an anonymous letter; they won't be able to tell who it's from and you can get the problem solved. You might want to type it instead of write it so they won't be able to recognize the handwriting.

You have the right idea, just do not create the free email account at your home because the email header will provide enough information for someone to work backward from the ISP to your front door.

Because of this, you may consider using a library computer to send your message.

As long as the library does not require you to sign in as yourself for use of their PC and internet, you are in the clear.

Yes, it can always be traced back if they wanted to pursue it.
Additionally, the complaint will fall on deaf ears and they will likely just treat it as spam mail if no one will come forward the the formal complaint.

Besides that, the Church is not responsible for one of their member's actions. If the family rents rather than owns, you can try filing complaints with the landlord that the boy is involved in illegal activity and the landlord might review the lease very closely to see if there are any violations under the lease (no landlord wants troublemakers in their homes). If they own the house, just keep filing complaints with the police everytime the boy does something illegal.

I would just write a letter and snail mail it with no return address.