Acceptance has limits#
Some domains accept mail for arbitrary recipient names. That behavior can make an invented address appear acceptable during an SMTP check. Do not treat a catch-all result as proof of a specific person’s mailbox.
Preserve uncertainty#
Use a separate review segment with the provider’s reason and check time. A temporary timeout, greylisting response and catch-all result are different conditions. Keeping those distinctions lets a later review answer the right question.
Choose a conservative next step#
For your own opted-in audience, compare recent engagement, bounce history and the origin of the record. For an unfamiliar record, seek better evidence instead of repeatedly probing it. MailMaid’s local checker never infers catch-all behavior from an address string.