Can we really verify email addresses?

[izbryte]

Ok, so I know how to validate the string and how to check and see if the domain is really out there but is there a god way to find out if the email address really exists? I've seen some programs claiming to do this but can they really? I've tried using the fsockopen() function but it really doesn't help all that much. Does anyone know a better way?

[johnny5]

I hope I'm mistaken but isn't it impossible to have a reliable way to validate that a particular email address is setup on any given domain?

This is the impression I have been given anyways..

[NevadaSam]

Send an email to them requiring that they click on a link to respond and verify that it is a valid email and that they received email sent to that address.

sam

[izbryte]

[quote author=NevadaSam link=topic=109895.msg443397#msg443397 date=1159487668]
Send an email to them requiring that they click on a link to respond and verify that it is a valid email and that they received email sent to that address.

sam
[/quote]
I have email verification now but I have a long list that I'd like to verify. I'm tempted to purchase one of the programs that claims to do it but I don't want to waste money.

[Demonic]

if you have a long list of emails that needs to be verified just in the users table Send email to all users thats email wasn't verified using while statement then making board settings or w/e saying they cant submit/post anything without verifying there accounts.