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Ask HN: How do you verify the identity of your users?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you verify the identity of your users?

#11
post #8

How about an SMS verification code sent to the user's mobile phone?

Mobile phones are $30 at your nearest bodega.

Meaning that multiple entries are very cost-prohibitive. If you want to enter 100 times with Facebook, you can buy 100 Facebook accounts for much cheaper than the $30 * 100 mobile phone cost.

Re: Ask HN: How do you verify the identity of your users?

#12
post #7

Make them upload a picture of themselves next to today's newspaper, where today's date is legible, and you need to be able to verify the paper is legit. That would be possible but not easy at all to fake. The second best way is credit card, and use a third-party service that doesn't require you to store any cc info locally. Unfortunately, people have more than one cc, more than one email, and you can't ask for ssn, b…

You don't have to do a newspaper. Generate a one-time, expiring string, like "Q8uZ3" -- they have to write it on a card and take a picture of their face with the card underneath. They have 30 minutes before it expires.

Re: Ask HN: How do you verify the identity of your users?

#13
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mobile phones are $30 at your nearest bodega.

Meaning that multiple entries are very cost-prohibitive. If you want to enter 100 times with Facebook, you can buy 100 Facebook accounts for much cheaper than the $30 * 100 mobile phone cost.

In that case, you can just get a VOIP number for 8 cents or whatever.

Re: Ask HN: How do you verify the identity of your users?

#14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meaning that multiple entries are very cost-prohibitive. If you want to enter 100 times with Facebook, you can buy 100 Facebook accounts for much cheaper than the $30 * 100 mobile phone cost.

In that case, you can just get a VOIP number for 8 cents or whatever.

It might be possible to prevent this. Craigslist somehow detects when you use a Twilio number.
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