SimpleVerifier Team · Reviewed
What does risky mean in email verification?
Risky means the domain can receive mail but the mailbox could not be confirmed, so the address might bounce. In SimpleVerifier it is the result for anything unconfirmed: catch-all domains, providers that accept every address, providers we do not probe, and servers that refused or did not answer. It is never reported as valid.
What to do with it
Read the reason and the send advice returned with each result. In the API, send_advice is safe (mailbox confirmed), care (the domain takes mail but the mailbox could not be confirmed), retry (the server did not answer; try later) or do_not_send (it will bounce). Risky addresses are for a tested, small-batch send, not for deleting or for a full send.
Related questions
- Is risky the same as unknown?
- Many vendors use unknown or accept-all for the same situations. SimpleVerifier folds them into risky and names the reason.
Sources
- SimpleVerifier API reference: statuses and send_advice
- How mailbox providers answer verification checks, 2026 (SimpleVerifier study, 51 providers, CC BY 4.0)
Figures marked as ours come from SimpleVerifier’s own dated tests on made-up addresses, published with their data on the research page. No customer data is used, and we publish no accuracy percentage because we have no independent measurement to back one.
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Type any address. It gets the same check the paid plans run: syntax, the domain’s mail servers and, where the provider allows it, a live mailbox check. Nothing is sent to the address.
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