Is there a way to identify proxy IP addresses?

Any server can be set up as a proxy server with the right tweaking and tools, and there are a bunch of free ones out there. Just search google for “free proxy server”. They’ll let you browse the web anonymously. To websites you go to it’ll look like all requests are being made by the proxy – your IP and identity won’t be involved because the proxy is making requests on your behalf. Unfortunately there’s no way that I know of to discover the real identity of a person hiding behind a proxy, but the FBI (probably) does it all the time, so it’s definitely possible. Sorry I’m not much help!

Thanks @camertron that does help some. I am not looking to find out the location so much as just knowing it is proxy. Sounds like there is not a way to know. Bummer.

Only my limited networking knowledge is at work here @Dog! There’s gotta be a way. Maybe all it will take is waiting for some more jellies to respond to this question or doing some deep digging on Google.

I Googled it and found this tool.

http://www.maxmind.com/

@Math321 how does that help? From what I could tell, your link is just to Maxmind’s corporate page. Is there somewhere we should click to use one of their tools to tell if @Dog‘s unknown person is behind a proxy?

^^^ Yes I need to know more :)

Use this: http://www.maxmind.com/
Under the contact button, there’s a field where you put the IP address.

Or, if you have Windows, you could do this: (taken from yahoo answers)
Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > Command prompt > enter “ping” followed by the URL (e.g. ping www.google.com) > [Enter].

Your computer will ping (i.e. send a request to the URL) and will retrieve the URL’s ip address.

If you use the maxmind thing, all you have to do is ask where they are right now, and compare it with the “Region Name” field. If they match, it’s not a proxy. If they don’t, it probably is a proxy.

I know how to find and trace an ip.

I want to know how to tell if the IP is proxy- as in making the location of the user appear to be a remote (false) location.

I want to know if proxy IP addresses have some kind of earmark or identifying factor.

I don’t think so. As far as I know, proxies are just computers that get pages for you, giving you a layer of protection between you and whatever page you’re on.