Identity verification is one of the most important aspects of Stitch. Ensuring that our membership consists only of real, verified individuals is one of the things that sets Stitch apart from pretty much any other community. Which means getting verified is one of the most important things our members need to do before they start using Stitch.
We wish that we lived in a world where verification like this wasn’t needed, but unfortunately scammers and spammers are all too real. We believe that anything we can do to keep our community safe and secure is worth doing.
Designing the perfect verification system, however, is easier said than done. Some of the considerations the system needs to meet are:
- Getting verified should be extremely easy for real members
- Getting verified should be extremely difficult for online scammers
- It should be totally safe and secure
- It should be cost effective
Some of these requirements pull in opposite directions (e.g. on the one hand making it easy for members but difficult for scammers), so the best solution is the one that strikes the right balance between all the requirements.
We know that we haven’t quite got the perfect solution yet, but we’re definitely working towards it. In this article we thought we should share a few insights to how verification works today, how we plan to improve it in the future, why some forms of verification incur a fee, and some free alternatives you can choose instead.
Current options for getting verified
Stitch currently provides two options for getting verified:
- Photo check which matches your photo against your photo ID
- Personal details which verifies your personal information including the last four digits of Social Security Number (US members only)
We utilize trusted third-party solutions for both of these verification options (and you can read more about the safety and security of these systems here). They work well, although we are very aware that the photo check process is quite cumbersome and we’re going to be making changes to make this much easier in an upcoming version of Stitch. We will also be introducing an additional phone-based verification check for those members who find the photo check difficult.
One thing all these approaches have in common, however, is that they all come at a cost.
Every time a member verifies themselves Stitch incurs a fee. This cost is something that we can absorb for Premium Members, but for our free Guest Members this isn’t something we can do — we would go out of business quite quickly if we did!
That’s why these verification options come with a fee for Guest members, but are free for Premium Members. We’re not trying to build a business out of these verification fees, but we need them to ensure that Stitch is sustainable as the Stitch community grows.
Other options
We have to charge for the verification options listed above, but that doesn’t mean we’re not looking for other ways to make verification easier — and cheaper — for our members. Here are a couple of new ideas that we now have introduced to allow members to get verified for free:
- Getting verified in person by Stitch staff at a Stitch event or at the Stitch offices
- Getting verified in person by a Stitch Ambassador at a Stitch event
The first option is obviously only helpful to members in locations where the Stitch team is based (or where we occasionally travel to), but it’s worth highlighting that this is an option for you. If you don’t plan on attending a Stitch event, but would like to drop in to either of the Stitch offices, we’d be more than happy to verify you in person.
The second option is one that will soon be available to members in cities right across the world. A Stitch Ambassador is a Stitch member who has shown themselves to be an active, reliable, and trustworthy member of the Stitch community. We already have Ambassadors in a range of cities around the globe, and will be working on adding more in the coming months. We’ll also be highlighting Ambassadors inside Stitch, so you can easily see if an Ambassador is attending an event with you.
All you need to do is turn up to the event, let the Stitch Ambassador view your ID to verify you are who you say you are, and give them your email address so they can identify you to us. They’ll then let us know that you’ve been verified and we can mark you off in the system.
We think this is a great way to let the community make it easy to let real members get verified, while still making it impossible for online scammers to do so. Nigerian scammers might find it possible to create fake online profiles, but turning up at a wine tasting in the Napa Valley or a movie in North Sydney is an entirely different matter!
If you’re interested in becoming a Stitch Ambassador yourself for your area, please simply contact us and we can talk to you about what’s involved.
Safety & security
The most important thing we’re aiming for with all these options is ensuring the safety and security of all our members. That includes not only enforcing verification in the first place, but also making sure that the use of personal information to verify our members doesn’t in itself create a security risk.
That’s why we don’t store any verification data in the Stitch database at all. Your details can never be seen by other members, or compromised by hackers. All verification data is encrypted and securely by our security providers, and is deleted once it has been used to verify your account. And with our new verification methods — such as phone verification (coming soon) or verification by a Stitch Ambassador — no information is ever even kept, which means there is nothing for a hacker to get hold of at all.
So that’s a summary of some of how verification works and some of the improvements we’re making to make it even easier. We’re always looking for ways to make things better so please let us know your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below!
I do not have a web cam how else can you verify my profile? Douglasville, Georgia
Hi Terri Ann,
Please send a support request through to [email protected] and the Stitch team would be happy to help you out. We haven’t yet launched our phone verification feature but you may be able to give it a try before it’s released to the public!
Thanks,
Andrew.
It is very frustrating to get verification, I put all my personal information but the website didn’t accept the information of my phone number so I could not follow
Betty,
I’m so sorry to hear that. It’s possible some information was entered correctly. We’re here to help! I’ll have someone reach out to you directly,
Marcie
Hi
I am not comfortable putting my primary ID online
How do I know 100% no one can take my identity details?
It would be nice to participate however due to the above and many of my friends have the same reservations I guess I will have to use other sites like RSVP and Plenty of Fish
Regards
Peter
Hi Peter,
Totally understand your reservations, which is why we’re introducing the ability to get verified without needing to provide your ID online. We haven’t quite launched this feature yet but if you sign up and click “Feedback” from the main menu then you can ask the Stitch team to contact you about getting yourself verified and we can try to do it over the phone for you. Please let us know how you go!
Regards,
Andrew.
Though I like idea of no scammers.. I am not comfortable putting my information out there.. If there is another way .. I would be happy to do it.. I’m always skeptical when asked for money or personal info.. So like so many other comments.. I’m going to have to decline participation..
This web site is so difficult towork out how the hell does it work?
Hi Kurt,
Sorry you’re having problems with the site. Please shoot us an email at [email protected] and tell us what you’re having trouble with and we’ll do our best to help you out!
Regards,
Andrew.
I am trying to find my way into the Central Coast Community Launch Party on Sun 1st November but can’t seen how to get this and am very frustrated. HELP PLEASE. TWO OF US WISH TO BE THERE AND I PRINTED IT ALL OUT THE OTHER NIGHT BUT HAD TO SEE MY FRIEND FIRST. WOULD LIKE TO BE AN EARLY BIRD BUT TIME IS RUNNING OUT.
Why do you need webcam cap of ID? why not just a scanned image of the license like banks ask for?
Also why does it cost $10 just to compare my face to that in profile? I think I see the scam here and its not from the customers. Just be open and say what real costs are ..It is ok to charge a fee as your time has value. But no need to pretend it is what it is not.
Hi John,
The webcam ensures that the person who is in the photo is actually the person who owns the driver’s license — the software we use does a facial recognition comparison to prove that the individual is who they say they are. As I mention in the article we do understand this is challenging for some people and we are working to make it easier, and have also now introduced phone verification which doesn’t require a webcam (or giving out your ID information) at all. The costs involved relate to the manual inspection we need to do in both instances — no matter which verification method we use, there is time involved from the Stitch team. And in the case of the ID scan, we get charged by our provider for every scan that gets run (even the ones that are unsuccessful!).
You may not be convinced but if you take a look at the profiles on Stitch I think you’ll see that the extra effort we go to is worthwhile. Compared to any other site out there the members on Stitch are real and we find this really comes across in their profiles.
Many thanks,
Andrew.
i also find the site very hard to navigate..and some of it was blocked when i tried to add more details. i only joined to see how it worked,,i realize you do not have many members here in australia..but it is hard to use.compared to the very popular RSVP site here. but i just gave up..seniors find it all a bit more challenging.
hope u can help
Hi Odette,
I’m really sorry to hear you found it hard to use — we’re doing our best to make it simple and easy to navigate. We’d love to help you out and address any issues you were experiencing … would you mind sending an email to [email protected] and telling us what the problems were so we can help you out?
Regards,
Andrew.
A few things:
1. I have one of my photos on my website; are you able to use that for verification?
2. If I want to do this by phone, can you tell me the questions you will be expecting
us to answer for verification? Before going further with this (I was going to join as Premium),
I’d like to know the information you’ll be requesting. Aren’t the last four of the SS # enough?
And address?
Thank you<
Linda
By the way, I didn’t want my last name out there in the comments section and there it is,
so I feel my privacy has already been violated! Please remove it asap. Ironic . . .
Hi Linda,
Don’t worry, your comment was only visible to you and nobody else — the first time someone comments on the blog it has to get approved by someone on the Stitch team before it gets published. We do this to weed out scammers but also edit people’s posts to make sure they don’t inadvertently include their last names, as this is something lots of people forget. It’s just the way that WordPress (which hosts our blog) works unfortunately. We are in the process of building our own internal forum and discussion area for Stitch members that will be kept private, as we tend to want a little more security than most normal blog sites which are built to be as public as possible.
To your other questions, we don’t want to disclose publicly the questions we ask in phone verification (for the obvious reason that we don’t want scammers to try to get around them) but we’d be happy to answer your questions via email if you shoot us your queries at [email protected]. I can however say we don’t ask for the last four digits of your SS# over the phone, and our focus is on confirming that you’re a real person who is the right age and attitude for the Stitch community. Based on your web site you pretty obviously are!
Regards,
Andrew.
Hi, I created a profile on Stich.net with pictures from my Facebook account, also I have recently just now joined meetup group with Stich.net. Shouldnt that be verified enough? Im a member of other meet up groups in Sacramento areas which is how they found me.
Hi Sandra,
Unfortunately that isn’t quite enough for the verification. We’ve had an incident today of a scammer signing up for Stitch and faking their identity information — thankfully they were caught but it’s an indication to us about how important it is to verify people. If you choose the phone verification option which is now available you’ll get to choose which information you’re comfortable sharing with us and what you’re not, so you don’t have to worry about giving out your private information. If you’ve got any other concerns just send us an email to [email protected] and we’ll be able to help you out.
Regards,
Andrew.
I agree with lot others comments that its too complicated to use this site. All I wanted to find friends in new area I moved recently. I’ve chosen to go for one month free trial, that what you offered here,l just to see what it looks like, but this site doesn’t allowed to go in the site. I think you need to let new people to give one month for free to use this site or you just loss a lot new members. I am giving up.
Hi Larisa,
Sorry you’re finding the site difficult to use. Just to be clear, we offer more than a month free — you’re able to use Stitch for free for as long as you like. That means you can attend Stitch community events and activities, as well as comment on them and discuss with other members — and if you’re in the Sydney area you’ll see there are plenty of activities being suggested by other Stitch members. It’s only when you want to view other members’ full profiles that we ask you to verify your identity … and we do this in order to protect our members from scammers. If you’re having difficulty with verification then feel free to send the Stitch team an email and we’d be very happy to help you out!
Regards,
Andrew.
Hi any profiles from the UK here to find companionship
Hi there,
I just filled out the profile and in the process I don’t know how but my address keeps coming up wrong, It is not East Malvern, Victoria Australia . It’s East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.
Can you explain the membership and costs please? Is this Verification cost a one -off or is there an ongoing fee to remain a member? What are the costs to be a premium member? I am wondering if it is worth the costs when I am an Aussie and my chances of meeting others and travelling are a lot less likely given my location, at least at this stage of your website development?You should really say up front that there is a fee- it makes you look sneaky and somewhat dishonest.
Hi Jill,
For some reason Google’s map engine doesn’t return a proper location when you type in “East Gippsland”. It works a lot better with town names so I’ve entered Bairnsdale for you right now but feel free to go and change it to a town that is closer to you.
Verification is a one-off cost, after which it’s free to remain a member. Premium membership is $60 a year. It sounds as if you might have missed the pricing information on our pricing page where this is all explained, along with FAQs. Check it out here: http://www.stitch.net/pricing/
We make a link to this page very clear at the top of our home page so we don’t think we can be accused of being sneaky!
As for whether it’s worth joining, that’s totally up to you but we do understand your hesitation given you live remotely. We do find, however, that we have numerous remote members who are enjoying becoming part of our global community (and who stay on the free plan) as this gives them an opportunity to be part of the conversations about Stitch, and attend events/travel etc when the opportunities present themselves. We’ll be announcing the launch of Forums pretty soon which are designed even more with our remote members in mind. We know we’re relatively new but we love getting input from all our members who are signing up, no matter where they live — as this helps us improve Stitch so we can come to your community even sooner!
Thanks,
Andrew.
My bad Andrew. I just joined on one of those random spur of the moment things and yeah I probably missed a lot of stuff I should have read last night. I did think I’d seen the word ‘Free’ somewhere but hey – it was pretty much midnight plus here :/ – maybe it said ‘Fee’. Anyway, either way, I do apologise.
Cheers,
Jill
No need to apologise Jill! And it is possible to use Stitch for free if you get verified by other members of the community at a Stitch event … the only reason we charge is because the verification process does cost us each time, as I described in the article above!
Difficulties with verification!
I agree. Stitch is difficult! There have been no casual activities in the Sacramento area of which I’m aware until now, when I receive an announcement of a casual coffee meeting, site TBD. So here’s my dilemma. I would NEVER join a standard on-line meeting service. I only submitted the minimum info for Stitch to see what it was about. I am certainly not going to start “meeting” people on line or on the phone and I am not going to submit a single bit of information about myself or a photo until I DO know exactly what Stitch is and whether I want to officially “join.”. The coffee meeting sounds like a way of dipping a toe in the water. But I will not commit even that much until I know where the coffee meeting is to be held (Sacramento is a big city) and I will not submit any more information until I have attended this kind of “unofficial” function without having to reveal any more personal details about myself. We should be able to meet in a public place to see if Stitch could work for us without handing over IDs,photos, etc. The site tells me “You’re Verified” but asks for more information before giving ME any more information about the coffee meetup. Please explain why you make it so difficult. If I like the coffee meeting, I might join. If I can’t even go to the coffee meeting, there is no possibility that I will join.
Hi Margaret,
This is Michael from Stitch, and thank you for the comment! I am sorry to hear this, but I also really appreciate the feedback! I just wanted to give you some information regarding your comment. Our new Stitch ambassador in Sacramento, Stephanie, is organizing this coffee meetup. We recently created a Sacramento Meetup group for Stitch to help get the word out in your area. Since, I have been working with a couple members regarding organizing a couple events around Sacramento. I spoke to Stephanie today, and she has a couple places in mind for casual get-together, but wanted to call them first to confirm that it’s okay to bring a group for coffee. But I decided to at least post the events on Stitch and Meetup, so members could make a note of the date. I did put a note on the posts on Stitch and Meetup saying we are still figuring out the venue, but should have it posted very soon (Hopefully tomorrow). This was in no way supposed to feel like we were hiding information for you. Really the truth is, we are just still figuring out a good venue for a group. Any suggestion(s) you may have on the venue is greatly appreciated!
Additionally, we are a very small team located in San Francisco. Because of this, we, the Stitch Team Members, cannot organize/schedule every event across the globe. We allow our members to suggest events in their local area, and then coordinate the details with each other. You can take a look at how members can suggest an event in their area here: http://support.stitch.net/article/89-how-can-i-suggest-an-idea-for-an-activity. Please let us know if you have any other pieces of feedback regarding Stitch, and/or need any assistance going forward. Thanks again for your comment, and I hope you can join the Oct. 3rd coffee!
Best,
Michael from Stitch
I’m getting a notice at the top of this page that says you are verified with a blue check mark. what does this mean? So I am verified?
Hi Merla,
Thank you for your comment, and I am so sorry for the confusion! No, the picture at the top of the blog does not mean you are verified. It is just a screenshot of what your verification page will look like after you verify here: https://www.stitch.net/app/#/settings/verification.
We used a screenshot of what being verified looks like on the verification page, as this blog is in reference on how to become verified. Very sorry again for the confusion, but let us know if you have any other questions going forward. Thanks again, and enjoy the rest of your day!
Best,
Michael from Stitch
You all reached out to me in Sacramento because I am member of Meetup. I will wait until event happens here, or something so cool happening in S.F. I think If I drive 4 hrs, $ for gas alone at least 40 dollars or more. I am disabled war vet & fixed income. Would be great if some or all was put toward cost of fees 🙂 Have to try. S.F. is a trip for me. let us wait & see if you have recruited this Marine once again. Sgt R.D. Earls U.S.M.C 1986-1994
Finding this site aggravating. Have a match & can’t even say hello. Joined to meeti someone. Have interest in me & stitched matched, but nothing.. To the persone who likes dog parks & drive the ccast, I am on Meetup singles adventure Sacramento. If you would llike to try messaging me there. I read your profile. Tells me where you are at & info about likes, but can’t even say hello. Hello & good morning. Hope to chat w/ you soon. Randy E.
Hi Randy,
Thanks for your comment, and I am sorry for the trouble! We would be happy to verify you at the first event in Sacramento, Saturday, October 3rd at 10:00am. I know this might be a little longer than you would like, but safety and security is our number one priority at Stitch, and the verification tools costs us money to use as a company. Thanks again, and please let us know if we can assist with anything else going forward!
Best,
Michael from Stitch
I don’t won’t to put my information out there for everybody , so you may have less members .
Hi Tina,
Thank you for your comment, and I completely understand your concern for safety. Safety and security is our number one priority here at Stitch, as well. To achieve that safety and security, we feel like each member should verify that they are who they say they are, and at least 50 years of age to be able to see secure content on Stitch. Our members have two options to verify their identity through two very trusted security partners, and we never store or display to anyone any of the information from verification.
Jumio (https://www.jumio.com/netverify/), the 3rd party system we use for Photo ID verification, has been trusted by many well-known companies, such as Airbnb, Western Union, and United Airlines. Jumio is also PCI Level 1 compliant, is SRC-approved and is a registered Visa merchant agent. We never store any of the entries on our system, and Jumio automatically deletes all entries after 7 days.
But if you do not want to use the Photo ID verification, we have a 2nd way you can verify: Personal Details Verification. Blockscore (https://blockscore.com), who is another secure 3rd party verification system, performs this verification, which is hooked up to our system. After someone attempts this verification, Blockscore gives us the thumbs up or thumbs down, and then the system verifies the profile if all information matches the information in their database. We never store any of the information you enter into Blockscore. All of Blockscore’s API endpoints are secured with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), and all document numbers are stored internally in an encrypted format.
We also have a 3rd way to verify one’s identity, which is our Questionnaire Verification. This verification asks some simple questions, which our system analyzes, and then will verify the account after deemed suitable. Members can also verify in person at a Stitch office, or at a Stitch event in their area. Please note that only one form of verification needs to be performed to become verified on Stitch.
I would strongly recommend reading our support article about verification. It explains the importance of verification for our members, as well as explains the verification options for you. You can read it here: http://support.stitch.net/article/81-verify-your-identity.
Thanks again for your comment, and let us know if you have any questions after looking over this information!
Best,
Michael from Stitch
Why does it keep saying I need to be verified then I go there and it says I already am ?
Hi Daryl,
Thank you for your comment, and I am so sorry for the confusion! I mentioned this in a reply to a comment above, but to reiterate, the picture at the top of the blog does not mean you are verified. It is just a screenshot of what your verification page will look like after you verify here: https://www.stitch.net/app/#/settings/verification.
We used a screenshot of what being verified looks like on the verification page, as this blog is in reference on how to become verified. To become verified, you will need to click on the link I just mentioned, and complete one of the three verification options. Very sorry again for the confusion, but let us know if you have any other questions going forward. Thanks again, and enjoy the rest of your day!
Best,
Michael from Stitch
The US Federal Gov advises its citizens never to give out SS or Passport ID, it is extremely unsafe. There are plenty of ways to verify a person’s id, encoding, encryption, etc, why make it difficult for those of us wanting to be members? I am sorry I am not able to participate, after all that info asked, not right at all. I suggest first of all you let would be members about the verification requirements you demand, it is only fair.
So sorry but no, I am not willing to share my SS nor Passport info. That is absolutely verbotem.
Best wishes,
Maria Cristina
Hi Maria, thanks for your comment. Sorry if this wasn’t clear, but we don’t require you share any of that information. For one of our options, we only ask for the last 4 digits of your SS number, not the entire number. We also never require a Passport, that is an option. A state license or ID is acceptable as well. Lastly, we have a Q&A verification option that does not ask for any ID information. We don’t take pleasure in asking our members for their IDs, but it’s really the only full-proof way we’ve found we can keep out scammers. They are out there and getting smarter and smarter (read this horrifying story: http://www.12news.com/story/money/business/consumer/call-12-for-action/2015/11/06/online-romance-scams-cost-victims-millions/75209132/
We release all of the information about our verification process, including the fact that we do not keep or store any data we take. Please read our support articles for more information, and feel free to reach out with any additional questions.
http://support.stitch.net/article/81-verify-your-identity
http://support.stitch.net/article/57-verification-privacy
Why does Skype cost $ 20 dollars ? I don’t mind paying a fee to join, but i want to see what i’m getting for my money first , not just being bounced back and forth with * premium members only * dialog boxes ! Being in UK we don’t have US social security numbers ! How do i know the person calling is real and not a scammer pretending to be Stitch staff member ? Stitch looks like a great idea , but the site navigation for a new member and verification implementation is appalling !
I’m in the UK, what good are showing US profiles to me ?? No offence but i’m not paying to fly Stateside just for a coffee meet ! Apologies if i sound rude or cynical but have been burned on other sites, so VERY WARY of giving out Info or bank /card details
Simon, I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding. The $20 Skype costs money because it does take time form the team. However, we have many other options to verify including using an ID (not social security). We also have a question and answer form that is free; the trust level will be lower but it is an acceptable verification. If you need any assistance please contact us via [email protected] or navigate to support.stitch.net for help articles.
Best,
Marcie
greetings, i searched the internet looking for stitching irish lace : ) seeing your site, sudden ( and highly unsual for me ) curoisty pressed me further. the friendship information was the main factor . i have never joined, nor had interest in a match type membership until reading viewing your testamonials
i read as much as you offer for the public without having to join, about your site. you seemed sympathtic for most of seniors changes in life except not a mention regarding disabilities. i truly thought, after reading as much as i could, you would have a section for disablied people to feel just as welcomed, as though they will/would be accepted wihout drama; not to isolate us ( the disbaled on your site ) but to simply see someone EXAMPLE~ in a wheelchair , not about the chair and any mention of their disability , but like the others, simply sharing why they are glad they joined . it would have been thoughtful if you had put up even one video testimonial including a disabled person, not focusing on their disability but simply a part of. i am hesitant to join for i see so much wonderful activity but there are seniors with the same cautions joining online communities, whom are simply seeking friendship with all walks of people. ( please forgive the typos… my hands aren’t as once were)
can someone please reply , if being disabled would be an issue ? i know legally you’d be hesitant 🙂 so i will rephrase . have you members in wheelchairs during meetings/gatherings etc? thank you very much
Hi Lora,
Sorry about the slow response, I only just saw your comment now! The answer to your question is that we have many members who have various forms of disability. (This probably isn’t surprising given Stitch is for over 50s and some disabilities become more prevalent for us as we age.) One of our members who joined 4 years ago and is still a member, is physically restricted and almost never able to leave his house, yet is the organiser of our Southern California member group and is hugely engaged in the community. The key for us is supporting our members in a variety of ways, as everyone has different needs and restrictions. I was talking to one member who has a leg problem and walks with a cane, who isn’t able to attend any Stitch events that involve hiking or going up stairs. But there are plenty of activities he does come to, and the nature of the community is that all members are able to suggest the things they would like to do … so that they are guaranteed of being able to do things that is suitable to them.
Please sign up and create an account, and contact us if you need any help!
Regards,
Andrew
Stitch Community Founder