A legit email address is more than just letters and symbols; it’s like an ID that makes people trust who you’re talking to in a place where honesty matters a lot. In today’s fast-changing world of texting and emailing, everyone wonders if the emails they get are real.

Around 3.4 billion spam emails are sent every day for phishing attacks. You might have also gotten many of those, but they usually end up in the spam folder without you ever knowing about it.

This guide will help you know how to check if an email is legit and how to pick the right tool for checking emails for your business.

Key Characteristics of a Legit Email Address

Email validation is like checking if an email address is real and is being used by someone. A good email address looks right and belongs to a real person or company. It’s important because it helps keep things safe when we’re online.

Here are the key characteristics that define a legit email address:

Correct Format: A legitimate email address adheres to the standard format with a local part, an “@” symbol, and a domain part.
Active Usage: Legitimate email addresses are used by genuine users for communication.
No Typos or Errors: They are free from common typos or errors that might indicate a fraudulent or mistyped address.
No Disposable Email Status: Legit email addresses are not disposable and are intended for long-term use.
No Unusual Characters: They do not contain unusual characters or symbols that might indicate suspicious activity.
Not Blacklisted: Legitimate email addresses are not listed on email blocklists, which could be an indicator of spam or malicious activity.
Compliance with Regulations: Legit email addresses comply with email communication regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the CAN-SPAM Act.
Responsive to Communication: Legitimate email addresses are responsive to communication attempts, indicating an active and engaged user.
Consistent with Branding: In a business context, legitimate email addresses are compatible with the branding and naming conventions of the organization.
No Unusual Activity: Legitimate email addresses do not exhibit unusual or suspicious activity, such as sending a high volume of spam or phishing emails.

Ways to Check if an Email Address Is Real

Let’s have a look at how you can check if an email is legit or not!

Check the Domain Name

To tell if an email address might not be accurate, look at the part after the @ symbol. Fake emails often use names that sound like well-known ones but have small mistakes or changes. For example, gmail.com is real, while something like Gmail.con or gmoil.com could potentially be fake and call for double-checking.

This can happen with other common ones like yahoo.com and hotmail.com too. Be careful if you see an email domain that doesn’t fit with who it’s supposed to come from.

For example, it might be wrong if someone named John Smith has an email from acmeproducts.com. If there are many numbers or strange letters in the domain name, this could also mean it’s fake. On the flip side, domains that match a known group or person usually mean the email is okay to trust.

Emails coming from places like microsoft.com or harvard.edu are more believable. Regular ones, such as gmail.com for personal emails, are typically safe. Checking where the email comes from can quickly help you spot fakes without wasting time on them.

Look for Odd Formatting

Watch out for these signs that an email address might be fake:

If the name is missing dots (like using “johndoe” instead of “john.doe”).
Unneeded dots at the end (“john.doe.”).
Letters in the wrong size, like big and small mixed up (“jOHnSmITH” instead of “johnsmith”).
Wrong endings like “.comcom” or “.mail.” It should be just “.com”.
Web addresses with typos or strange letters added.

A good email address will have the following:

Small letters before the “@” sign.
Dots to separate first, middle, and last names.
No extra dots at the end.
The proper ending, such as .com or .net. No spaces or weird symbols.

If you see things that don’t look right, like those above, it could mean someone’s trying to trick you. Stick to emails that look normal to stay safe from scams.

Verify the Mail Server

To find out if an email address is real, you can check the computer that sends emails to that address. When you send an email, it goes through this special computer.

You must look at a particular record in the domain’s settings to see which syestem does this. This record tells you which computers are used for sending emails from that domain.

Here’s how you can find this information:

Use the nslookup command in your terminal or command prompt. For example:

nslookup -q=MX example.com

Use an online tool like MX Lookup. Just enter the domain name.
Use the dig command. For example:

dig mx example.com

When you look up which mail servers are connected to a domain, it shows who handles the emails for that website. If you find a working mail server, this means the email’s website is real.

But remember, even if the site is real, you still need to check if the actual email address exists. If there is no mail server or no one owns the website name (domain), then emails from that site are probably not good.

So when you’re trying to see if an email is genuine or fake, seeing if its website matches its mail server helps!

Send a Test Email

To see if an email works, try sending a simple test message. Write a short email with “Testing email address“ as the subject and say, “This is just to check your email” in the message.

Then, wait to see if you get an error displaying that the email didn’t go through or if it sends fine. But be careful not to send too many emails to addresses you don’t know. You should only do this to ensure someone’s given you the right one.

Otherwise, people might think you’re sending spam, which could cause problems for your email account. It’s best to test emails shared with you on purpose so no one thinks of your messages as junk mail.

Using inappropriate words in an email body can also result in your email landing in the spam folder. A quick solution to improve your email’s effectiveness is using an AI paragraph rewriter to make it concise and more informative.

Check Email Deliverability

One way to check if an email address is legitimate is to see if it will accept incoming mail. There are a few tools you can use to test email deliverability:

PowerDMARC’s Human-Readable Reports: The easiest way to track your deliverability is to monitor your sending sources and emails on our dashboard.
Mailtester – This free tool checks if the mailbox exists and can receive email. It will tell you if the address bounces or accepts mail.
MailboxValidator – Another free validation tool that verifies email deliverability. It will confirm if the mailbox is valid or invalid.
EmailListVerify – This paid service verifies email addresses in bulk. It can check deliverability for thousands of emails at once.
NeverBounce – A paid API for email verification that checks deliverability and other factors. It offers batch validation capabilities.
Searchbug – a third-party data company dedicated to assisting the e-commerce industry by enriching, cleaning and validating email addresses and other data such as names, phone numbers, and mailing addresses.

To check if an email address is good, type it into these tools. They will try to send a test email or check with the email server. If the email goes through, the address probably works and is real.

But if it doesn’t go through, the address might not be working or even fake. This way of testing helps you distinguish bad or unused emails from active and real ones. Using this and other ways of checking can help you know if an email is okay to use.

Look up Email Headers

Email headers contain technical information about an email, including the sending mail server, receiving mail server, date/time sent, authentication methods and more.

Viewing the full email headers can provide clues about whether an email address is legitimate.

Here’s how to check email headers:

Open the email message in your email client (Gmail, Outlook, etc).
Look for the option to view the “full headers” or “original message.” In Gmail, click the dropdown arrow next to the reply button, then select “Show original.”
Scan through the headers for any unusual or suspicious entries:

Received: The ‘received’ lines show the servers the email passed through. Lots of hops or unfamiliar server names may indicate the message didn’t come straight from the claimed sender.
Authentication: Methods like DKIM and SPF authenticate the sender. Missing authentication suggests possible spoofing.
Date/time: Dramatically different date/time between servers may reveal forgery.
Subject: The subject line should match in all headers if unchanged.

Research unfamiliar headers like X-Originating-IP to uncover more context.
Consider running headers through a verification tool for analysis.

Inspecting the full email headers requires some technical knowledge but can reveal vital clues about an email’s authenticity and path. When in doubt, look up the headers before trusting a questionable sender.

Use an Email Verification API

Email verification APIs provide automated checking of email addresses through a simple API call. This can validate email addresses more efficiently compared to manual verification methods.

Some key benefits of using an email verification API include:

Fast batch processing: APIs can check hundreds or thousands of email addresses very quickly, rather than verifying one at a time. This saves significant time and effort.
Accuracy: APIs utilize a combination of validation techniques like mail server checks, syntax checks, and more. This provides more reliable accuracy than a single manual method.
Easy integration: Email verification APIs have simple integration options, allowing them to be added into apps and websites with minimal coding required.
Flexible usage: Most email verification APIs offer pay-as-you-go pricing, flexible plans, and usage-based charges. This allows the service to scale to any email validation needs.
Updated databases: Email verification APIs maintain real-time databases of valid and invalid emails, spam trap lists, and more. This ensures the latest data is used when verifying emails.
Programmatic access: Since APIs are accessed via code, the results can be easily stored and used programmatically for further processing and analysis.

By leveraging an email legitimacy API, businesses and developers can automate the process of checking email legitimacy. This saves considerable time compared to manual verification while also improving accuracy.

Note: While these methods are valid, some may require technical knowledge or access to specific tools. Additionally, it’s important to note that none of these methods can guarantee 100% accuracy in determining the legitimacy of an email address.

How Can Illegitimate Emails Harm You?

An illegitimate email is any unauthorized email crafted with the intent of phishing for details or attempting to insert malicious software into the system. Illegitimate emails may try to impersonate a legitimate email address.

It’s a known fact that these illegitimate emails can pose a significant threat. But the good news is that these scammers cannot do anything if you just open the email. Real problems occur when you click on any phishing link inside the email, download an email attachment, or reply to the email with your sensitive information.

So does it mean that you are totally safe if you’re only opening an email? Not exactly. While the risk of fraud is significantly low, it’s still there. Emails may contain tracking pixels or similar software, manipulate receivers into taking action through social engineering, or embedded malicious code.

So how does one keep oneself safe from scam emails sent from their own domain? You can use an email authentication protocol, DMARC, that is intended to fight against email fraud and phishing attacks. It allows email recipients to determine whether or not an email is from the specific domain for which it claims to be from using SPF or DKIM. The sender can specify strict actions to be taken against any illegitimate email sent from their own domain using a DMARC policy.

If you want DMARC for your domain, consider checking out PowerDMARC. We provide DMARC reports in a human-readable format with key points mentioned in graphs, numbers, and charts. This improves your email authentication visibility and helps you fix deliverability issues more easily.

How To Avoid Being a Prey to Email Scammers and Hackers

Every now and then, someone becomes prey to such email scammers and hackers. So to avoid this from happening and so you can have better days ahead, do these 5 things:

Don’t ever reply to spam emails. If you don’t know who the email is from or the email looks hasty, it’s a definite red flag for an email scam.
Make sure to keep your software up–to–date, as outdated software is the favorite place for scammers and hackers.
It’s difficult to filter out spam emails individually, so you should install an anti-spam filter to filter out and quarantine malicious content easily. Major ESPs have in-built anti-spam filters that flag millions of emails on a daily basis.
If there’s even a 1% doubt that an email isn’t legit, don’t click on links or download any attachments.
Always be cautious about whom you’re sharing your personal information with. Email scammers can try to pose as your long-lost friend that you might have forgotten about. It’s just done so you or someone else can reveal your important personal information more readily.

Did You Click on a Link in a Scam Email? Do This ASAP!

If you’ve opened a link in a scam email, make sure to follow the following steps to save yourself:

Immediately turn off your Wi-Fi or your mobile network so the scammer can’t download your complete information.
Secondly, as a precautionary measure, use antivirus software to detect and eliminate potential threats.
Now log in to affected accounts and change passwords promptly.
Also, make sure to enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for enhanced security.
Consider using a password manager for robust account protection.
Always have an active backup account ready to mitigate potential risks if something urgent comes up.
Report phishing attacks to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/.
Ensure you have copies of important files to mitigate data breaches or loss.
If you don’t have an external drive, it is highly recommended that you get one for backing up photos, documents, videos, etc.
To save yourself from the scams, sign up for an identity theft protection service.
Lastly, use DMARC to authenticate illegitimate emails. While no silver bullet, DMARC can help minimize the risk of domain name abuse and fake emails sent from your own domain.

Final Words

Having a real email address is important for safe and honest communication over the internet. If you know what makes an email address suitable, people and companies can feel more sure as they use the web.

By using the tips we’ve discussed, your business will better check emails properly, build trust, and avoid problems from fake emails. Even though there is no guarantee that the methods will detect all fraudulent emails and will be able to distinguish between malicious email addresses or potentially misspelled ones – they are viable precautionary measures.

When you start making sure your emails are valid, think of it as taking the first step toward a safer online world by double-checking whether email addresses are genuine. So, if you ever find yourself wondering, ” Is this email real?”, remember these guidelines for secure communication.

About
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Ahona Rudra

Domain & Email Security Expert at PowerDMARC

Ahona is the Marketing Manager at PowerDMARC, with 5+ years of experience in writing about cybersecurity topics, specializing in domain and email security. Ahona holds a post-graduation degree in Journalism and Communications, solidifying her career in the security sector since 2019.

Is this email real? How to Check if an Email is Legit?