Why we verify
Most problems in this category come from one thing: not knowing whether the person in the photos is real. Catfishing, stolen images and bait-and-switch all start there. Verification is how we close that gap before a profile is ever published.
The checks
Identity check — a government-issued ID is checked for authenticity.
Liveness check — a real-time capture confirms a live person, not a photo of a photo.
Signed-selfie check — the provider holds a one-time code we issue, proving the ID, the live person and the account are the same individual.
Reverse-image screening — published photos are screened against known stolen-image sources.
What the badges mean
A rosette means identity, liveness and signed-selfie all passed. A 'Listing' label means the profile links out to where the provider books and has not been identity-verified by us — useful, but a weaker signal, and we label it honestly.
Every badge maps to a real event in our system. We never show a trust badge as free text someone typed about themselves.
What we never do
We never publish or sell identity documents. Verification evidence is minimised, kept separate from public media, and where possible retained by the verification provider rather than us.