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Catch-all & risk scoring

Every address gets a 0 to 100 score, not a shrug.

Catch-all domains, greylisting, full mailboxes, role accounts and free providers all leave a trace. Verifyre weighs each one into a score you can set a threshold on, and tells you plainly when a server refuses to confirm a mailbox.

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Catch-all probe

After the real address is accepted, a random one at the same domain is tried. Accepting both means the domain hides its mailboxes.

Weighted score

SMTP confirmation, catch-all, role, disposable, free provider, greylisting and mailbox state each move the score up or down.

Greylisting handled

A 450 or 451 reply is reported as greylisted, not failed. Re-check later and most resolve to a firm verdict.

Full and disabled mailboxes

452 and 552 over-quota replies and 550 5.2.1 disabled replies become mailbox_full and mailbox_disabled reasons.

Role accounts

info@, sales@, support@ and 80 other function prefixes are flagged so you can keep them out of marketing sends.

Provider policies

Providers that refuse probes (Yahoo) or accept everything then bounce (Outlook.com consumer) are known and scored accordingly.

Reading a score

A score is what you know, compressed into one number.

100 means the server confirmed the mailbox and nothing else raised a flag. Every flag subtracts a known amount, so two addresses with the same score carry the same confidence.

  • 90 to 100: deliverableMailbox confirmed by SMTP, domain checks each name, no reputation flags.
  • 40 to 89: riskyAccepted but catch-all, role or free; mailbox full; greylisted; or a provider that cannot be probed.
  • 0 to 39: undeliverableMailbox not found, domain has no mail, disposable provider, invalid syntax or a likely typo.
sara.khan@lumenretail.com96deliverableaccepted_email
hello@northwind.agency72riskycatch_all
info@orbit-fintech.com58riskyrole_based
dan@yahoo.com65unknownunverifiable
tom@mailinator.com0undeliverabledisposable
old.name@lumenretail.com2undeliverablemailbox_not_found

How detection works

How Verifyre tells real acceptance from accept-all.

Catch-all detection is a second question in the same SMTP session, so it costs nothing extra and never sends a message.

  1. 01

    RCPT TO the real address

    The server answers 250 (exists), 550 (does not) or a 4xx deferral. A 550 ends the check with a firm undeliverable.

  2. 02

    RCPT TO a random address

    If the real address was accepted, a random 14-character name at the same domain is tried in the same session.

  3. 03

    Compare the answers

    Real 250 and random 550: the domain checks names, so the address is deliverable. Both 250: catch-all, scored risky.

  4. 04

    Remember per domain

    The catch-all verdict is cached per domain, so a 10,000-row list from one company probes it once, not 10,000 times.

100point score range
15distinct reason codes
2RCPT commands, maximum
0messages delivered

FAQ

Catch-all detection and risk scoring, explained

Visit the help centre
Should I send to catch-all addresses?
Catch-all addresses are a bet. They often deliver, especially at companies that forward everything to a shared inbox, but they can also bounce later. The usual policy is to send to catch-all contacts who have engaged before, and to keep brand-new catch-all addresses in a smaller warm-up send where a bounce costs less.
Why is a Microsoft 365 address sometimes risky?
Many Microsoft 365 tenants are configured as accept-all at the SMTP boundary and reject unknown recipients afterwards with a bounce. Verifyre detects this with the random probe and scores the address as risky rather than claiming it is deliverable.
Can the score change between checks?
Yes, when the underlying facts change: a greylisted address is confirmed on the retry, a mailbox fills up, a domain adds DMARC. Domain facts are cached for a short period, so most repeat checks return the same score quickly.
What threshold should I use?
For marketing sends most customers export deliverable only (90 and above). For sign-up forms a cut-off around 70 accepts catch-all business addresses while rejecting disposable and non-existent ones. The score is in every export and API response, so you can tune it.

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