How to verify someone's identity before you meet
8 min readBy Deep Search Editorial Team
To verify someone's identity before meeting them, confirm that their company exists and names them, check that their profile has a real history, and find at least one independent page that mentions them. Then make sure the details match. If something doesn't fit, ask them or a mutual contact before you share money, documents or anything sensitive.
This guide is for work meetings: a pitch, a new client, a job offer, a possible partner or an interview request from someone you don't know. Most people are who they say they are. A few minutes of checking protects you from the rare exception.
Why a five-minute check is worth it
A first meeting often comes with a request attached: an introduction, an investment, a contract or simply your time. When you check someone before a business meeting, you find out whether that request really comes from the person and the company it claims to. The effort it takes to verify someone's identity before meeting is small next to what you might hand over.
It pays off when everything is fine, too: you arrive knowing their work and can ask better questions. And every check in this guide uses public pages that anyone can open.
Confirm the company exists and they work there
Start with the company. It is usually the quickest part to check, and a real one leaves years of public traces.
Find the company's own website
The company's own website is the first place to verify a company is real, so open it rather than a directory listing. A real business usually explains what it does and who runs it, with news or posts that go back some time. Check that the web address matches the domain of any email they sent you.
A thin site with no names and only stock photos is not proof of a problem, since many small firms have one. It is a reason to keep checking.
Look for their name on it
A team page, a press release, a blog post or a case study may name the person with their role. In a large company their name may not appear at all, which is normal. Then the independent pages below matter more.
Check a company register
Most countries keep a public register of companies, and a register search is another quick way to verify a company is real. In the UK, the Companies House register is free to search by company name, number or officer name, and shows whether a company is active, when it was set up and who its directors are. In the US, most states offer a business entity search, usually run by the Secretary of State.
If someone says they founded or run a UK company, their name will often appear in its list of officers. A registration proves the company exists on paper. It doesn't prove the business is trading, or that this person works there.
Check that the profile has a history
Real professional profiles build up over years: past roles, connections, posts and mentions elsewhere. A fake one is usually made quickly, for a single purpose.
Signs of a fake profile
- It is new. The account, or all of its activity, began only a few weeks ago.
- It has few connections, or connections that look just as new and empty.
- The photo is too perfect. A headshot that looks like stock, or a face that appears under a different name elsewhere.
- The career has no detail. Big job titles, but nothing they have written or said.
- Nobody else mentions them. No colleague, event or article refers to them outside the profile itself.
Each of these signs of a fake profile is a hint, not proof. Some people join a site late, and some never post. Two or three signs together, next to a request that feels rushed, deserve a closer look.
Look for them outside their own profiles
Anyone can write a good profile about themselves. What is hard to fake is other people writing about them. Look for pages the person doesn't control:
- Conference speaker lists and recorded talks
- Interviews, podcasts and articles that quote them
- Company press releases and news coverage
- Open source projects, research papers or patents
- University, trade association or award pages
One independent page that names them with the same role and company is worth more than the most polished profile. Our guide on how to find someone online covers searching common names and spelling variants.
Match the details
Compare what you found with what they told you. Small differences are normal, like an old job title or a shortened name. Big ones are worth a question.
| Detail | What to compare | What deserves a question |
|---|---|---|
| Name | The spelling on their profile, the company site and any article | A different name on each page, with no clear reason such as a nickname |
| Role | The title they gave you, against the company site and press | A senior title the company never mentions |
| Company | Their profile, their email domain and the company website | A free email account, a lookalike domain, or a different employer on every page |
| Dates | When they joined, against when the company was set up | A role that starts before the company existed |
| Location | Their city, against the company's offices and events | A claim to be local that nothing else supports |
| Photo | The same face across profiles, talks and team pages | The same photo under someone else's name |
Warning signs worth pausing on
Some signs matter more than a thin profile, because they point at what the other person wants from you:
- Pressure to move fast, decide today or keep things quiet
- A request to move from work email to a private chat app
- Early requests for money, fees or payment details
- Early requests for documents, such as a copy of your passport
- A company with no website, or a website that names nobody
- A video call that keeps getting cancelled
For job offers, the US Federal Trade Commission's guide to job scams describes the common patterns, such as being asked to pay for a starter kit, training or a certification. A real employer won't ask you to pay a fee to get the job.
If something doesn't add up
Ask. A mutual contact can often confirm who someone is in a single message. You can also ask the person kindly how they came to work at the company, or who else will join the meeting. A genuine contact won't mind a friendly question.
To confirm they work where they say, contact the company through the details on its own website, not the ones in their message. Suggest a video call before you travel, and meet at their office or in a public place the first time. Don't send money, documents or sensitive information until you are satisfied.
How Deep Search helps
Deep Search does the gathering for you when you need to verify someone's identity before meeting. Type a name, add a company, job title or location if you know it, and press Find matches. Each possible match carries a match badge (Strong, Possible or Weak) and a count of its sources, so you can pick the person you are meeting.
The full report on the person you pick can cover their work history, education, public profiles and public photos linked to them. Every claim links to the public page it came from, and contact details are removed. A search takes a minute or two, and it's free either way. A subscription unlocks the full report.
It doesn't replace your judgement or a formal identity check. It shows what the public web says, so you can compare it with what the person told you. See how a search and a report work, how founders research an investor before a pitch and how journalists check who they are talking to, or start a search.
Deep Search is not a consumer reporting agency. Don't use it for decisions about employment, credit, housing or insurance. If you are hiring, our guide to what the law allows explains why candidate checks need a different route.
Related guides
Verifying who you're meeting: questions
Some people keep a small online footprint, and that is fine. Ask for another way to confirm who they are, like a mutual contact, a video call or a message from their work email address.
Not on its own. It gathers what public pages say, groups them into possible matches and links every fact in the report to its source. You still make the judgement, and you should open the original page for anything important.
To check someone before a business meeting, a few minutes by hand is usually enough: the company site, a register if it matters, one independent page and a comparison of the details. With Deep Search, a search takes a minute or two. Spend longer when money or a contract is on the table.
No, if you ask out of interest rather than suspicion. Most people expect questions about their work in a first meeting. If you already read about them, say so: it shows you prepared.
For most meetings, no. For a high-stakes deal, ask for a video call or an introduction from a mutual contact first. Formal identity checks, if needed, usually come later and are handled by lawyers or banks. And don't send a copy of your own ID to someone you haven't verified.
Check before you meet
Search a name, pick the right match and read a report with a source for every fact. It's free, and you can subscribe any time to unlock it.