Verified sender
Read from the delivery, not the message.
Every message you receive gets a Sender check built from what DMARC, DKIM and SPF said on arrival. A pass counts only when the servers that took the message in reported it.
In short
How is an email sender verified?
Anyone can type any address into the From line. SPF lists the servers allowed to send for a domain, DKIM signs each message, and DMARC passes when either one checks out for the From domain.
How it works
Checked once, as it arrives
The receiving servers test the message as it arrived and write the result on the delivery. Opening it later shows that record, not a fresh check.
Claims inside a message are not believed
Authentication-Results is an ordinary header any sender can write. One carried inside the message is a stranger's report and never confirms the sender.
DMARC decides, SPF does not
Forwarding breaks SPF and an added footer can break DKIM, so a DMARC pass confirms the domain. The check still names what broke.
What you get
In the product today
Warnings come first
A message flagged as unsafe never shows its sender as confirmed.
Logos are not proof
A brand logo earns no seal, and is hidden when DMARC did not pass.
Each mechanism named
DMARC, DKIM and SPF each show Clear, Flagged or No result.
Who said it
Details also names who reported the result.
Good practice
Getting the most out of it
- 01
Check before you pay
Before paying an unexpected invoice, open Details and read the Sender check.
- 02
Read the domain itself
A lookalike domain can pass every check, because whoever sent it owns that domain.
- 03
Unconfirmed means unknown
Plenty of ordinary mail proves nothing either way, so judge it by what it asks you to do.
Where it stands
Good to know
- Re-checking a signature
- Nothing re-verifies a signature later: the mailbox keeps the parsed thread, not the original bytes it covers.
- Older mail
- Messages stored before these checks existed carry no verdict and say Not checked.
Questions
Asked often
Keep going
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Point a domain at OpenEmail and read it in a mailbox built around it. The free plan covers one domain.
