Pre test electronic mail process

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention provides a method and apparatus which operates completely in the background (i.
e.
, transparent to the user) to verify the validity of an addressee's Internet e-mail address.
The invention seeks to prevent the delivery of an e-mail message having an incorrect user name, server name, or a misspelling in either or both in the addressee's Internet e-mail address.
The present invention calls the addressing error to the sender's attention, where it may be corrected before the message is sent, thereby eliminating the potential of losing hours, perhaps days, before the addressing error is discovered.
The invention, which operates using standard SMTP/POP protocols, may be easily incorporated within existing e-mail software programs.