Does Zoosk Verify Profiles? What Photo Verification Does and Doesn't Prove

Partly. Zoosk offers an optional photo verification. A member records a short video selfie, Zoosk's moderators compare it with her profile photo, and if it matches, her profile gets a verified badge. Because it's optional, a woman without a badge isn't necessarily fake. And it only shows that her photos match a live person. It doesn't confirm her name, her age or anything else on the profile.

Zoosk's own announcement of the feature describes these steps:

1. The member chooses to verify her main profile photo. Nobody is forced to.
2. She records a video selfie that shows her face from several angles.
3. Moderators review the video and decide whether to approve the photo.
4. If it's approved, a Photo Verified badge goes on her profile, so other members can see the photo matches the person.
5. The video stays private. Other members can't watch it.

One caution. Those steps come from Zoosk's announcement when the feature launched, so the app's menus and the badge's look may have changed since. Open the verification section of your own app to see how it works now.

The badge answers one question: does this profile's photo match a real person on camera right now? That's useful, because the oldest trick on dating apps is somebody else's pictures.

Bustle's coverage of the launch says the feature is meant to validate the accuracy of existing profile photos, and it doesn't describe any check of names, ages or jobs. A dating safety review that covers Zoosk quotes the safety policy of the company behind it: photo verification only confirms that a live photo matches the profile photos, and does not verify identity, age, criminal history or any other information. The same review says the company doesn't run comprehensive criminal background checks.

So treat a badge as one check passed, not a clean record.

• A badge is a head start, not a requirement. Verification is optional, so a woman without one can be just as real. If you're careful, look at verified women first and ask the others for a video call.
• Still check anyone who asks for money. The FTC's list of romance scam signs applies to any profile, badge or not: moving you off the app very fast, a story about why she can't meet, an emergency that needs money, pressure to act right now. Never send money or gifts to someone you haven't met in person.

You don't have to rely on the app. These take ten minutes:

1. Ask for a video call. Bumble's first date safety guide says that if your match hesitates to do a video or phone call, it may not be right for you. "Want to do a quick video call before Saturday?" is a normal thing to say.
2. Reverse image search her photos. The FTC lists this as a check against scam profiles.
3. Meet in a public place, and make it a busy one. Get there and leave on your own, and tell a friend where you'll be.

The same call also confirms she looks like her photos. coach does a phone or video call before dates, partly to confirm that the woman looks like her photos. A call takes ten minutes and tells you more than a week of typing.

One note on moving off the app. Getting to a text, then a date, is exactly what you should be aiming for. a dating coach gets a woman from the app to her number in about four to seven messages. The difference is in how it feels. A woman who suggests a plan and then trades numbers is behaving normally. A woman who asks for your number in the first message, before she has said anything real, is the one to be wary of. coach also says a woman who is far too forward, too early, is sometimes not a real person.

• Has she verified, or has she at least been willing to get on a video call?
• Is she asking you for money, in any form or for any reason?
• Did she push you off the app before she had said anything real?
• Does someone you trust know where you'll be, and when?

If any answer troubles you, wait. A woman who is real and interested will still be there after a video call, and a woman who isn't will not.

Verified and worth your time are different questions. coach stresses that the app matters. Some apps have more fake accounts and more people who are not looking to date, and good technique on the wrong app gets worse results than average technique on the right one.

So after you've checked that a profile is real, check that Zoosk works for you. Look at who is active near you. If the women you see are nearby and replying, the app is doing its job. If you're collecting matches and no replies, look at your photos and your first messages before you blame the dating app.