How verification works
Trust is the whole point of Verified Handles. Two signals tell you how much you can rely on an entry. Here’s exactly what each one means.
“Verified”
An entry marked 
Verified has been checked by the Verified Handles team and confirmed to be the genuine record for that person or organisation, its handles cross-referenced against the entity’s own confirmed channels. It’s a statement about the authenticity of the entry: we checked it, and it’s genuine.
“Claimed”
An entry is Claimed when the person or organisation it represents has proven control of it through our claim process and now manages its content. Claimed entries are protected from automated changes. It’s a statement about ownership of the entry: the subject took it over.
Verified vs Claimed
The two are independent. Verified means we authenticated the entry; Claimed means the subject manages it. An entry can be one, both, or neither: a Claimed entry is Verified only if it carries that badge too.
Most entries carry neither. Why so few entries are Verified. How we gather and check handles →
Checking an account yourself
A badge on Verified Handles, or on a platform, is one signal among several. How to check whether a social media account is official explains the others, and how to report an impersonator.