Email and Phone Verification

Typically, email and phone verification consists of a few steps, such as:

• Collecting personal details. The verification software asks the user to enter their phone number or email address. 
• Sending the SMS code. The software sends out the verification code to the user. It’s either through an SMS or their email inbox, depending on the chosen flow (email or phone verification). 
• Confirming ownership. The solution prompts users to enter the code as a final step to confirm that the data is real and that the provided email or phone number is real and belongs to them. 

Solutions like email and phone verification help improve the security and reliability of the brand using them. For example, with email verification in e-commerce, validating such credentials helps improve deliverability and lowers bounce rates if there’s a retargeting or any marketing campaign that involves sending emails. It also protects user accounts from fraud and reduces spam. 

Beyond simply verifying if an email or phone number is valid, these checks enhance a company’s risk assessment strategy by providing additional signals, such as whether a phone number is legitimate or trustworthy. If a risk is detected, the process can escalate to further identity verification steps, like ID document checks, for increased fraud prevention and risk management. 

By integrating automated email and phone verification solutions, such as iDenfy, platforms can improve various fraud prevention measures. 

For example:

• Improved account takeover prevention. Email and phone verification can block fraudsters who attempt to steal and take over other accounts. This helps block unauthorized access and protect legitimate accounts. 
• Enhanced two-factor authentication. Once the code is sent, the user is asked to check their sms messages or email inbox and enter the digits in question. This is a familiar, simple, and swift process that is fully automated and cost-effective. 
• Better risk assessment. An invalid phone number or email address can be a sign of fraud or a breach of rules, such as if the user is trying to create multiple accounts to access new member benefits or hide their true identity when the account is used for fraud. 

Yes. iDenfy offers an SMS verification solution that can be added or enabled via the identity verification dashboard. An SMS verification code is sent to the user as part of the identity confirmation process. Once the user completes verification, the result, whether the phone number is valid or not, is displayed next to their profile. For security purposes, the code is valid for ten minutes, and the user can attempt phone verification up to three times.

No. If you’re operating in a high-risk, regulated industry, verifying users’ emails or phone numbers alone won’t be enough to prevent fraud effectively. At iDenfy, we recommend integrating this service alongside standard KYC checks, such as document and biometric verification. This works better for collecting proper risk insights (email, phone, as well as IP or risk scoring) and improving your customer risk profiles with collected and verified data pre-onboarding or as a complementary solution to your onboarding workflow.