Evaluate email risk
Email Risk evaluates the email addresses submitted on a business and attaches risk indicators to each one. It also produces an email_risk review task that summarizes the overall result, so you can use email signals as input to your onboarding decisions.
Email Risk scores up to 20 email addresses per order. Addresses beyond this limit are skipped.
How Middesk evaluates email risk
For each submitted email address, Middesk attaches a set of indicators that describe different dimensions of risk. Each indicator returns a rating along with a description.
| Indicator | Description | Key |
|---|---|---|
| Email validity | Whether the address is real and correctly formatted. | email_validity |
| Deliverability | Whether mail sent to the address will actually be delivered. | email_deliverability |
| Domain reputation | Reputation of the email’s sending domain. | email_domain_reputation |
| Domain configuration | DNS, MX, and SPF posture of the email’s domain. | email_domain_configuration |
| Account activity | Signs that the inbox is actively used. | email_account_activity |
| Data breach exposure | Whether the address has appeared in known data breaches. | email_data_breach_exposure |
| Address type | Classification of the address as disposable, free-mail, or private. | email_address_type |
The indicators roll up into an overall risk rating on the email address, which drives the email_risk review task. See the Email risk review tasks page for the task outcomes and what each value signals.
How to order Email Risk
Email Risk keys off email addresses already submitted on the business. To order it:
- Include
email_riskin theordersarray when you create a business, or add it to an existing business with aPOST /businesses/{business_id}/orderscall. - Ensure at least one email address is submitted on the business.
Email Risk evaluates emails submitted on the business. When ordered alongside Website, Verify, or Identity orders, Email Risk also reports whether each submitted email was discovered during those orders — for example, on the business’s website, among its third-party profiles, or in historical data for the business. For this reason, Email Risk waits for those orders to complete before running. When ordered standalone, it runs immediately.
