Patent ID: 7966377

Claim:
A method for use when an original email with a message identification provided in a message identification line is sent from an originator to a receiver, having a real email address, at a destination email address, which includes a concatenation of an alias and a magic number calculated with respect to an email address of the originator and the real email address, the method comprising: parsing the alias and the magic number from within the destination email address to determine whether the alias exists; forwarding an error message to the originator if the alias does not exist and determining whether the destination email address is allowed to be used by the originator; and forwarding an error message to the originator if the destination email address is not allowed to be used by the originator and, if the destination email address is allowed to be used by the originator: replacing the destination email address with the real email address of the receiver, adding a new header field having the destination email address provided as a value therein to the original email below a subject line and above a message identification line having the message identification provided therein to indicate that the destination email address was an original destination of the original email, and forwarding the original email to the receiver at the real email address, wherein if the receiver replies to the original email with a reply email, the method further includes: setting a from header field in the reply email with the value of the destination email address of the new header field to indicate that the destination email address was an original destination of the original email, adding a second new header field below a subject line indicating that the reply email is in reply to the message identification provided in the message identification line of the original email, and removing the new header field.