Protect yourself with peer-to-peer checks

profile picture Ashley Ezrachie 3 min read
Man showing the front page of his Yoti ID app

Identity-related fraud is huge. Both in the real world but more so online where it’s easy to hide behind a fake unchecked profile. Most platforms don’t want to add friction into their onboarding journeys in fear that people will migrate to another site. 

A Which? survey of 1,300 buyers found a whopping 32% had been scammed on second hand marketplaces in the last two years. Whether someone is trying to sell stolen goods, committing romance scams, catfishing, or advertising property rentals that don’t exist, there are a whole host of fraud-related crimes and identity is often at the centre of them.

The good news is you can complete your own safety checks with Yoti or Post Office EasyID..

 

Fight fake profiles with peer-to-peer checks

There is a solution if your platform of choice doesn’t ask people to prove that they are who they say they are. Our peer-to-peer checks are free, can be done in seconds and build trust.

If you’re unsure who you’re speaking to online or feel a deal is too good to be true, use one of our Digital ID apps to safely swap verified details with another person. After all, a scammer won’t share their real identity with you.

 

Sounds too good to be true?

Whether it’s buying and selling or dating online, a peer-to-peer share can save you both time and financial pain. 

It gives you the option to swap only the necessary information, so you don’t need to share more than you are comfortable with – unlike sending a copy of your ID, which could open you up to more fraud risks.

 

True story

Our Chief Marketing Officer Chris Field was after a second hand metal detector for his son and found a steal online. He asked the seller to swap details but they refused. After getting his Inspector Clouseau on, Chris uncovered that they were actually a scammer. A few hours later their profile disappeared.

 

How it works

  • Open your Digital ID app.
  • Tap “Share” and select the details you’d like to swap, like your photo or full name.
  • Choose how to swap your details (via text, email or face to face).
  • Once the other person has approved your request to swap details, you’ll get the exact same details from them.
2 screens showing how to select which details to share about yourself in the case of a peer-to-peer check

Have you been affected by a scam that could have been prevented with our peer-to-peer checks? We’d love to hear from you. Let’s fight fraud together.

Keep reading

Thoughts from our CEO

In this blog series, our CEO Robin Tombs will be sharing his experience, whilst focusing on major themes, news and issues in the world of identity verification and age assurance. This month, Robin chats about the popularity of digital right to work checks, the new Teen Accounts on Instagram, why facial age estimation is effective for children, intimate image abuse and responds to another misleading Crikey article.   34% of people choose Digital ID to prove their identity for DBS checks Since June 2022, Yoti has completed over 1.6 million right to work (RTW) checks and over 0.93 million

8 min read
An image of the Instagram icon with the words "Teen Accounts" written around it. To the bottom left of the image are five icons: a padlock, a photo and video icon, two people, a messaging icon and a clock.

Helping Instagram to create safer online experiences with new Teen Accounts

From today, Meta is introducing new ‘Teen Accounts’ on Instagram for users under the age of 18. This change aims to help parents keep their teens safe online, by including features that have built-in protections. These include the ability to set daily usage limits, restrict access during certain hours and monitor their child’s interactions, such as the accounts they are messaging and the types of content they’re engaging with on the platform. New users under the age of 18 are, by default, given the strictest privacy settings. Under the new guidelines, teens aged between 16 and 18 will be

2 min read

Why Yoti’s facial age estimation is not facial recognition

There’s quite a bit of confusion about the differences between facial age estimation and facial recognition. While both types of technology work with images of faces, they’re used for different reasons and are trained in different ways. To help clear up some of these misconceptions, we’ve explained some of the key ways that our facial age estimation is not facial recognition.   Facial age estimation vs. facial recognition: designed to give two different outcomes. Facial age estimation delivers an estimated age result. Facial recognition delivers a match (or no match) between images of a person. [vc_column_text

9 min read