Is This Platform Real?
Before you upload your ID or a single photo, take five minutes to check that you're dealing with the real platform, run by a company willing to be named, on terms you can actually read. These are the checks we run on every platform in the registry, so you can run them too.
It tells you who runs it, shows you its rules before you join, and keeps your money inside its own checkout.
None of that proves a platform is good for you. But a platform that won't do all three hasn't earned your ID or your photos yet.
Look it up in the registry
Start with the official address, because lookalikes start there too.
Every platform we've checked has a record showing its official website, who runs it, how it handles payment and the date we last looked.
- Find the platform on the Platforms page.
- Compare the address in your browser with the website on its record, letter by letter.
- Watch for one changed letter, an extra word, or an ending swapped for something like .co or .ai.
That doesn't make it fake. It means we haven't finished checking it. Run the checks below yourself, and send us the link at desk@solebrief.com so we can add it to our list.
Check the app, if there is one
App stores carry listings that borrow well-known names.
A listing can use a platform's name without having anything to do with it, and any of them could ask for your ID or your photos.
- Only install an app the platform's own website links to.
- Check the developer name on the store listing matches the company that runs the platform.
- If the platform says it has no app, believe it, and use its website in your phone's browser.
FeetFinder says it has no app at all, yet its record lists store listings that use its name.
Find out who runs it
A platform that holds your money and your ID should be willing to say who it is.
- Open its terms of service and look for a company name.
- Look for where that company is registered.
- If no company is named anywhere, note it. If something goes wrong, you may not know who to hold responsible.
FeetFinder's terms name FLRT Inc, registered in Nevada, United States. Some platforms name no company at all, and each record says so plainly.
Read the terms before you sign up
A real platform publishes its rules where you can read them without an account.
Look for terms of service, a privacy policy and an explanation of payouts, with a date that shows they're kept up to date. If you can't find them, or the link leads nowhere, treat that as a reason to wait.
Follow the money
On a marketplace, the buyer pays the platform and the platform pays you.
- Payments stay inside the platform. Paying through another app, a link or a gift card steps outside whatever protection the platform offers.
- You never pay to get paid. A fee to "unlock" earnings or "verify" an account, outside the platform's own published pricing, is a scam.
FeetFinder names its payment processor: Segpay. Each record shows how the platform handles payment and who carries chargebacks.
Notice what they ask for, and where
Being asked for ID is normal. Where you hand it over is what matters.
On its own site or official app
Most real platforms verify sellers before they can sell or be paid.
By email or direct message
No real platform collects your ID in a chat or an inbox.
To a "manager" or "agency"
Someone offering to set things up for you doesn't need your ID or your login.
FeetFinder's verification, as its terms describe it: Government ID and selfie.
Red flags at a glance
Any one of these is a reason to stop and check again.
- A promised amount, like "earn $500 a day". Nobody can promise what you'll earn.
- A fee to unlock earnings or verify your account outside the published pricing.
- A request to move the chat or the payment somewhere else.
- No company name, no terms, or no way to reach a person.
- An app the platform's own website doesn't link to.
- Glowing reviews only on its own site or in paid press releases.
- Someone asking for your ID by email or direct message.
- It names the company behind it, and where it's registered.
- Its terms, privacy policy and payout rules are public and dated.
- It takes payment through its own checkout.
- It verifies ID on its own site or official app.
- Its app, if it has one, is linked from its own website.
- There's a way to reach a person.
Send us the link at desk@solebrief.com and tell us what made you wonder. We read everything.
Something already gone wrong? Staying Safe covers what to do next.
