How do I reverse image search a photo on my phone?
Save the photo, open Google (the app or google.com in your browser), tap the camera icon in the search bar and choose the photo; Google Lens then shows where the same image appears on the internet. If it shows up under another name or on a scam-warning site, the photo is not the person's own.
Reverse image search is the single most useful check against fake profiles, and it is free. It finds identical and near-identical images, not faces, so an edited or mirrored photo can slip through. No results is a good sign, not proof.
Step by step
- Save the profile photo or screenshot it and crop to the picture.
- Open the Google app, or google.com in Chrome or Safari, and tap the camera icon.
- Pick the photo from your gallery and wait for the matches.
- Look at the names, sites and dates where the photo appears. A different name or a stock-photo site means stolen.
- Try two or three different photos from the profile; scammers mix stolen photos from several people.
Frequently asked questions
- Nothing came up. Is the profile real?
- Not necessarily. Scammers also use private or little-known photos. Treat no results as a good sign, not proof.
- Does Veritaza do this for me?
- Yes, check 1 looks for the same photo elsewhere on the internet, and check 5 shows whether other people have already checked the same photos. R99 per report.
Want to know if there are warning signs about the person you're chatting to? Veritaza checks the photos, the messages, the number, the email address, the name and the ID document, for R99.
Check a person