Verification
Trust does not have to mean “never check.”
Verification is strongest when several independent pieces of information line up. Do not let one photo, one profile, one document, or one video call carry the whole case.
Start with the basics.
- Full name and the name they normally use
- General location
- Work or business claims
- Major family details they repeatedly discuss
- Travel and meeting history
- Public profiles they say belong to them
Use live conversation as one piece of evidence.
Regular live video and phone calls are more useful than text alone. Real-time conversation can make impersonation harder, but it still does not verify every claim about work, money, location, or intentions.
Reverse image search photos.
The FTC and FBI recommend researching profile photos and images. If the same photo appears under another name or with details that do not match, that deserves immediate attention.
Check important claims independently.
If a major decision depends on a job, company, property, investment, medical event, or legal situation, do not rely only on a link, phone number, document, or contact supplied by the person. Find the official source yourself.
Look at how the person reacts.
Someone can dislike being questioned and still answer. The bigger concern is a pattern of anger, guilt, threats, sudden emergencies, or demands for blind trust whenever a basic fact is checked.
Do not buy verification.
If “proving” something requires you to pay a fee, send crypto, buy gift cards, transfer money, or give account access, stop. Verification should reduce risk, not create a new financial risk.
The goal is not to investigate every detail of someone’s life.
Check the facts that matter to the decisions you are being asked to make. Respect privacy, stay within the law, and do not access accounts or devices that are not yours.