How to Report a Fraudulent Human Verification

When to report

You should consider filing a slash proposal if you have concrete evidence that a Human Verified profile is not a real, unique human. Valid reasons include:

• Duplicate identities — The same person is verified under multiple profiles

• Bot behavior — Automated posting patterns, impossible activity timestamps, or coordination with known bot networks

• Admissions — The account has publicly stated or revealed non-human status

• Technical evidence — Links to known sybil operations or provably automated infrastructure

When NOT to report

Do not file a slash proposal if:

• You disagree with or dislike the user — That's not evidence of being non-human

• The account is inactive or posts infrequently — Low activity is not proof of anything

• You have a hunch but no evidence — You're staking your own credibility, so be sure

• You're trying to settle a personal dispute — Slash proposals are for fraud, not grievances

Filing a bad-faith slash costs you. If your proposal is rejected, you lose the credibility you staked.
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How to report

1. Gather your evidence. Collect verifiable proof that the verified profile is non-human (screenshots, links, on-chain data, behavioral analysis, etc.)

2. Initiate a slash proposal against the Human Verification bond through Ethos

3. Stake your credibility. You must put up your own credibility as a bond, creating skin in the game that discourages frivolous accusations

What happens next

Once your slash proposal is submitted:

1. Community review — Reputable Ethos users review the evidence and vote on the outcome, weighted by their credibility scores. This is not a popularity contest — voters are expected to evaluate the evidence objectively.

2. Resolution:

   • If approved: The user who was slashed loses 800 credibility.

   • If rejected: You lose the credibility you staked as the proposer.

The process follows Ethos's established social consensus mechanism, which has been battle-tested across other protocol functions.