Verified means the checks passed, not that the person will reply
Verified describes contact information that has passed the verification process agreed for the project and is suitable for standard delivery. It is a statement about the address, not about the person behind it or their relevance to your offer. A verified address at a company that was never a fit is still a wasted send. Verification and qualification are separate jobs, and a delivery that is strong on one can be weak on the other.
Risky means something was found and something is still unresolved
Risky is a record that needs caution or additional review before being treated the same as standard verified data. The uncertainty has a cause: a domain that accepts everything, sources that disagree, a role that may have changed since the record was created. The label exists so the decision about whether to send stays with the person who owns the sending domain. A vendor who folds these into the verified count produces a better-looking delivery and moves the risk somewhere you cannot see it.
Not Found means the answer is no, and no is a real answer
Not Found means usable contact information could not be confirmed. These contacts are not included as usable contact delivery. That is deliberate: the alternative is guessing a pattern that looks plausible, which produces addresses that bounce and a delivery count that flatters everyone. A researched account with no confirmable contact is still useful information about that account. It is not a contact.
Where catch-all sits
A catch-all domain accepts mail for every address at that domain whether or not a mailbox exists, so a positive server response proves nothing. Catch-all is not a fourth status; it is an additional review process applied to records that would otherwise be unresolvable. Where reviewed catch-all contacts are accepted and delivered, they are kept separate from standard valid data, and typically sit within an expected maximum bounce range of around 2 to 3 percent rather than the sub-1 percent range standard valid deliveries hold under normal sending conditions.
A workable send policy
- Send Verified records in your main sequences.
- Hold Risky records out of the first send from a new or recovering domain.
- Where a Risky or reviewed catch-all segment is commercially important, send it separately and in smaller volume, so the bounce result is measurable rather than mixed into your primary numbers.
- Do not attempt to rehabilitate Not Found records by guessing a pattern.
Why the labels are worth keeping visible
Every send draws on one finite resource: the reputation of your sending domain. Complaint and bounce thresholds are enforced automatically, and recovering a throttled domain takes far longer than building the list did. Labelled uncertainty lets you spend that resource deliberately. Hidden uncertainty spends it for you.