How verification works

The photos on this listing have been checked against the person in them. It covers the photos only. Listings without the badge have not been checked.

It covers the photographs and nothing else. It is not a background check, a licence check, or an endorsement.

They have not been checked. That is all it means — plenty of genuine advertisers have not sent photographs in yet. It is a reason to ask more questions, not a reason to assume the worst.

Several labels side by side mean learning a vocabulary before you can judge a listing. One check that everyone understands is worth more.

No. We verify listings ourselves, and we also accept verification from trusted third parties. If your listing already has the badge, you keep it without repeating the check.

Send a photograph of yourself holding a handwritten note with today’s date, along with the photographs on your listing. An editor compares them. It usually takes under a day, and it costs nothing.

It is stored privately, never shown on your listing, and deleted once the check is done. We keep the date of the check, not the material behind it.

Yes. If your photographs change substantially we will ask you to verify again, and if a listing turns out not to match what was checked, the badge comes off and the listing usually comes down with it.