Why are more of my LeadMagic emails coming back catch-all or unknown?

What causes it?

1. Some company mail servers accept any address at their domain, so LeadMagic can only say the domain accepts mail broadly, not that the mailbox exists.

   In the LeadMagic help: Some mail servers accept any address at a domain: even addresses that may not exist as real mailboxes. Accept-All Domains: LeadMagic Help, read 2026-11-12.

2. LeadMagic checks each address with its own deliverability analysis rather than a single mail server reply, so its result can differ from a simple server check.

   In the LeadMagic help: LeadMagic runs proprietary deliverability analysis on each validation: not just a single SMTP response. Accept-All Domains: LeadMagic Help, read 2026-11-12.

3. On domains that accept all mail, the server can answer yes at check time and still fail or discard the message later, which is why those results are marked as higher risk.

   In the LeadMagic help: SMTP can look successful while delivery still fails or the message is discarded later. Accept-All Domains: LeadMagic Help, read 2026-11-12.

How do I check it myself?

1. Count catch-all results apart from fully valid ones, so a shift in your list's domains does not look like a change in quality.

   In the LeadMagic help: Segment accept-all (is_domain_catch_all: true) separately from fully verified valid addresses Accept-All Domains: LeadMagic Help, read 2026-11-12.

2. Run validation again shortly before a large send, since results reflect the mail server at the moment of the check.

   In the LeadMagic help: Re-validate before large campaigns Accept-All Domains: LeadMagic Help, read 2026-11-12.

How does LeadMagic work with Feder?

• Connect LeadMagic to Feder and it joins your Interest apps.
• When you connect LeadMagic, Feder checks the connection straight away and shows Connected only when that check passes. If a reading cannot be taken later, Feder shows it as not read, never as zero.

Some numbers are too quiet to judge daily, such as a form filled in a few times a week. Until there is enough of your own history to judge a change, Feder says it is still learning and scores nothing, rather than guessing.

See whether you can trust the numbers in LeadMagic, one of your Interest apps. Feder only reads. It never changes anything in LeadMagic.

What else goes wrong with these numbers?

• Why did LeadMagic find fewer emails than usual?LeadMagic
• Why does LeadMagic's email finder say valid when validation says unknown?LeadMagic
• Why did Google Analytics stop collecting data?Google Analytics
• Why aren't my key events showing in Google Analytics?Google Analytics
• Why does Google Analytics show (not set)?Google Analytics

See every question.

Where do these answers come from?

Every cause and check on this page comes from the LeadMagic help pages, quoted above with the date we read them. Last reviewed 2026-11-12. We read them again by 2027-11-12. If one changes, this page changes or comes down.