An email finder works out a person's work email address from their name and company. It's how a list of names from LinkedIn becomes a list you can email.
How finders work
- Databases: addresses collected from public sources and matched to the person.
- Patterns: each company formats addresses its own way (
first.last@,flast@,first@). Knowing the pattern, a finder generates the likely address. - Checking: the candidate addresses are verified against the company's mail server.
Accuracy
Results depend on the company. Small companies and those with catch-all mail servers are hardest, because the server accepts every address and can't confirm the right one. Always verify a found address before sending.
Doing it yourself
Generate the common address formats for one person with the free email permutator, then check them with the email validator.