is it possible to falsify an ip adres

Is it possible to falsify an ip adres.
I get mail from a "former"friend. When the mail is send from their hotmail account to mine hotmail account I can not find the ip adres.
Recently I was sent a message from their hotmail to my freeler adres and then I was able to find an ip adres. I checked the ip adres in a free search tool on the internet and the conclusion was that the mail came from athens in greece.
I do not believe that that is where the mail came from hence my question, is it possible to falsify an ip adres and how can you find out what the original ip adres is, in other words how can I find out what is the original ip adres once it is establisht that the athens in greece ip is false?
I am not very good with computers so if someone answers my question please try to write it so that even I can understand the steps I should untertake.
Sorry for my spelling mistakes.

 

Yes, it's very very easy to "spoof" an IP address - especially when sending email. Unfortunately there isn't much you can do unless you've got access to the mail server the email got sent from. Sorry.

 

Why do you need to find out where this former friend is? Are these e-mails threatening or somehow upsetting? If so then your best bet is to involve the authorities. They will be able to request logs from hotmail to find out where they are logging in from and then also trace any proxies back until they find this former friend.
I'm assuming that you can't ask them where they are because they won't tell you. If there is no need for the authorities to get involved then as Goldfish said, there isn't much you can do.

 

Thank you for your reply.
The mails are not threatening but in a way they are upsetting. Not for the contense but for who, I think, sends them.
If I am right it means the person who says is sending the mails is not sending the mails.
My guess is that the email adress is "stolen". The person that I think stole this adress once hacked into my email and I was unable to log into my email.

Hence my next question: is it difficult to "steal an hotmailädress?
I do want to steal! I just want to know if it is difficult.
If it is not it would explain a lot and I would have a pretty good idea who is behind the mails.

It is a shame it is not possible to trace the mail to its original source (ip adress).
I have an idea where the source is but no proof.

I hope I do not bother you with this new question. If I could find the answer myself I would not have asked it in the first place. I am good in dealing with people (I am a teacher) but I do not know anything about computers and the internet.

greetings rudie