---
"@context": https://schema.org
"@type": TechArticle
"@id": https://www.twilio.com/docs/api/errors/60421#article
headline: "60421: Unexpected result when creating contact"
url: https://www.twilio.com/docs/api/errors/60421
inLanguage: en
dateModified: 2026-06-08T12:04:59.000Z
author:
  "@type": Organization
  name: Twilio Developer Education Team
publisher:
  "@type": Organization
  name: Twilio
---

# 60421: Unexpected result when creating contact

Log Type: TWILIO

Log Level: ERROR

## Description

Twilio returns this error when Verify cannot create the contact record needed for your request. Verify uses the destination you send in `to` to start a verification for a phone number or email address, and that value must be valid for the channel you selected. For phone-based channels, the destination must be in `E.164` format. For email, any `channelConfiguration.from` value you include must be a valid email address.

### Possible causes

* The request body contains contact information that Verify cannot use to create the contact, such as a malformed phone number or email address.
* For SMS, voice, WhatsApp, or Silent Network Auth, the `to` value is not formatted in `E.164`.
* For the email channel, `channelConfiguration.from` is included but is not a valid email address.
* The API request is sent with an unsupported content type instead of `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` or `multipart/form-data`, which can cause unexpected API errors.
* A user entered the wrong phone number or email address during sign-up or profile update, and the incorrect identifier was sent to Verify.

### Possible solutions

* Validate the contact data before you send the request. For initial verification flows, show the full phone number or email address back to the user so they can catch typos before you start verification.
* Normalize phone numbers to `E.164` before calling Verify. For example, use `+14155552671` instead of a local or partially formatted number.
* If you use the email channel, confirm that the Verify Service is configured for email and that any `channelConfiguration.from` value is a valid email address.
* Send the request using `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` or `multipart/form-data`. If possible, use an official Twilio helper library to avoid request formatting issues.
* Retry the request only after you correct the contact information in the request body.

#### Additional resources

* [Start a verification](/docs/verify/api/verification)
* [Send Email Verifications with Verify and Twilio SendGrid](/docs/verify/email)
* [Verification and two-factor authentication best practices](/docs/verify/developer-best-practices)