Does Email Verification Notify the People on Your List?
No. A real mailbox check never sends a message: the verifier connects to the recipient's mail server, asks whether it would accept mail for the address, and hangs up before any email is sent. Nobody on your list receives anything, so there is nothing to open, reply to or report as spam.
What happens during a check
SimpleVerifier's how it works page describes the steps:
- Look up the domain's mail server in DNS.
- Open a connection to it on port 25.
- Introduce itself and give a sender address.
- Ask whether the server would accept mail for the recipient (the
RCPT TOstep). - Hang up.
A message is only sent at a later step, the one where the sender transmits the email body. The checker never reaches it, so the mailbox gets no message.
What the recipient's server can see
The server received a connection and a question, and it may keep a line about it in its logs, as it does for every connection. That is a technical record on a mail server. It is not an email to the person, and the person has no way to see it from their inbox.
Which checks do not touch the server
Some checks do not contact the recipient's server at all:
- Syntax and typo checks, such as finding
gmial.com. - Disposable-domain detection.
- Role-address detection, such as
info@orsales@.
These run from lists and rules. The free email typo corrector and bulk disposable email checker are examples.
Does it affect your own sending?
A check is not a send. It does not create a bounce on your domain and it does not count as a complaint. It is a reason to verify before you send: what happens when you email an invalid address is the cost of finding out the other way.
What it does mean for privacy
Verification still processes personal data: the addresses go to the verifier's server. How long they are kept and where is a separate question, and what happens to your list after you upload it answers it for SimpleVerifier.
Next step
Run 100 free checks with a Google sign-in, no card, and look at the results: each address comes back valid, risky or invalid with a reason, and nobody on the list hears about it. See pricing for plans from $9 a month and packs from $15 per 10,000 checks.
Common questions
Does the person get an email when I verify their address?
No. A mailbox check asks the mail server whether it would accept mail for the address and then disconnects before any message is sent. The person receives nothing.
Can the recipient's mail server see that I checked?
The server can record the connection in its own logs, like any connection. The person who owns the mailbox does not see it, and the check does not appear in their inbox.
Will verifying hurt my sender reputation?
A mailbox check is not an email and is not counted as a send, so it does not create bounces or spam complaints on your sending domain. Your sending reputation is shaped by what you send afterward.
Do all checks contact the mail server?
No. Syntax, typo, disposable-domain and role-address checks work from lists and rules and need no connection. Only the mailbox check talks to the recipient's server.
How do I know it did not send anything?
The SMTP steps are public. The checker introduces itself, names a sender, asks about the address with RCPT TO and quits before the DATA step where a message would be sent. SimpleVerifier's how it works page describes this.
Check your list before you send
Real mailbox checks over SMTP, and nothing is sent to the address. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. Plans for bigger lists are on the pricing page.