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How to Approve Real Users and Block Fake Accounts at Sign Up with Lookup and Verify

Blog post from Twilio

Post Details
Company
Date Published
Author
Kelley Robinson, Marius Obert
Word Count
1,984
Language
English
Hacker News Points
-
Summary

In an effort to enhance user onboarding while combating fraud, the text outlines a method using Twilio Lookup and Verify to approve real users and block fake accounts during sign-up processes. By integrating multiple fraud checks such as line type detection, line status verification, and identity matching into one seamless flow, businesses can create a robust yet user-friendly system to authenticate users. The guide provides a practical tutorial, including a JavaScript example and prerequisites like Node.js and Twilio account credentials, to implement a four-layered verification pipeline. This involves verifying that a phone number is mobile, checking line status, matching user names with phone numbers, and finally sending an OTP for phone verification. The method aims to filter out fraudulent accounts efficiently while ensuring genuine users experience minimal friction during sign-up. The text also includes considerations for pricing and encourages rearranging verification steps to suit specific business needs, emphasizing the importance of balance between security and user experience.