Challenges of catch-all email management

Any service claiming they can "verify" catch-all emails with 100% accuracy is full of 💩 By definition, catch-all domains ACCEPT ALL EMAIL ADDRESSES. That's literally what they do. The only way to TRULY verify if an email exists is to: 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 Wait for either: • A bounce • A response • Or...silence (which tells you nothing) I know there is at least one or two verification services that literally send an email (Scrubby?), but most either resort to pinging servers or their own users historical data. Verification tools connect to the mail server and issue the 𝚁𝙲𝙿𝚃 𝚃𝙾: command to see if the server rejects invalid addresses. For a normal domain (without catch-all), if the mailbox doesn’t exist, you often get an SMTP error like 𝟻𝟻𝟶 𝟻.𝟷.𝟷 <𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜@𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗.𝚌𝚘𝚖>: 𝚁𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍. For a catch-all domain, the server might accept the address with a 𝟸𝟻𝟶 𝙾𝙺 (even if that specific mailbox doesn’t exist). A common trick is to check random addresses at the same domain (like 𝘢𝘣𝘤123@𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯.𝘤𝘰𝘮, 𝘹𝘺𝘻987@𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯.𝘤𝘰𝘮). If every single random address gets the same “𝙾𝙺” response, that strongly indicates the domain is configured as catch-all. Sure, verification services can detect if a domain is catch-all, run fancy SMTP check, or look at historical data, but at the end of the day, they're basically just telling you "yeah this domain accepts everything" 🤷♂️ If you know which domains are catch-all you can: • Flag them as higher risk • Adjust your sending strategy • Set proper expectations Don't get me wrong, I use multiple email verification tools in sequence on every campaign. And depending on the campaign I will send to catch-alls, especially if they're a large portion of the lead list. You can't definitively verify a catch-all email address without some form of response or engagement. Period. Anyone claiming otherwise is: a) Lying b) Doesn't understand how email actually works c) Playing semantic games with what "verify" means (most common amongst these vendors) Can anyone explain how these companies are claiming they are doing this? I've only ever gotten nebulous non-answers when I've asked.

Just recorded a quick video walking through how to implement No2Bounce in Clay. In the video, I show exactly how to connect the APIs and, most importantly, how to properly verify catch-all emails. This step is critical, and honestly, most people skip it or don’t even realize how important it is. They either don’t verify catch-all emails at all, or they use a tool that says “deliverable” without actually checking. The result? Emails don’t land. Their sender score drops. And their domain reputation slowly dies without them noticing. If you’re running outbound, this is something you have to get right. Because one bad batch of emails can mess up everything, not just for one campaign, but for every email your team sends after that. In this video, I walk through the exact process I use: how to plug in No2Bounce into Clay, how to filter only for verified catch-alls, and how to avoid sending to risky addresses.

❌ Hey RevOps - has your sales team ever dropped a “valid” email address into a sequence, only to have it disappear into the void? Welcome to the world of catch-all emails - where domains accept any and everything thrown their way, meaning sometimes it lands in a real inbox 📥 or sometimes a black hole. 🌌 So why should RevOps care? Because bad data = bad decisions. If your email verification tools aren’t flagging catch-all domains, you might be funneling leads into neverland - messing with deliverability, skewing campaign performance, and throwing off your GTM motions. ⚡ So what can you do? 1️⃣ Use tools like Findymail (built by Valentin W. and crew) that detect catch-all domains in real time (not all verification tools are created equal) 2️⃣ Track email engagement closely - if there's zero engagement, they might not exist 3️⃣ A valid email is just one piece of the puzzle, so be sure to combine with other signals and data points (e.g. firmographics, website visits, intent signals, etc.) to prioritize real leads Your SDRs (and your pipeline) will thank you. 🙏 Also if you've got any stories (good or bad) on catch-all email domains, drop a comment and let’s hear your best (or worst) email horror stories! 👇 #revops #revenueoperations #salesops #salesoperations #emaildeliverability #datacleansing