# Something feels off about this applicant's email.

> Job-scam and recruiter-impersonation emails lean on the same thing every time: a plausible-looking address that nobody checked. Before you schedule a call or share anything, it costs nothing to check whether the address is even real.

## What actually matters here

Email verification can't tell you whether someone is a real recruiter or a real candidate - it only tells you whether the address can receive mail. That's still useful: a scam message sent from an address that bounces, or a domain with no mail servers at all, isn't worth another minute of your time. A real, deliverable address doesn't clear anyone - it just means the next check is on you, not the tool.

## Check it before you reply

Run the address through the verifier. If it doesn't exist or the domain has no mail servers, you have your answer immediately. If it's real, move to the checks that actually speak to identity: does the domain match the company's real one (not a close lookalike), does the person's history line up, and can you reach the company independently through a number or site you found yourself, not one in the email.

## Watch for the domain, not just the address

A common pattern is a domain that's one character off from the real company's - an extra letter, a swapped ".com" for ".co", a hyphen added. The address itself might even verify as real, because the scammer owns that lookalike domain outright. That's a separate check from whether the mailbox exists.

## Questions

**Can a verification check confirm someone is a real recruiter?**
No. It only confirms whether the email address can receive mail - it says nothing about who controls it or whether the job offer is genuine.

**What if the address is real but the company name looks slightly off?**
That's a lookalike-domain pattern, not an addressing problem - verify the domain independently against the company's real one rather than trusting the email.

**Is it worth checking every applicant's email?**
Not every one - but it's a fast, free first check the moment something already feels off: an unexpected offer, pressure to move fast, or a request to switch to chat apps early.

Tool: [Check the address right now](https://www.emcheq.com/tools/email-verifier)