---
title: Fake account detection
---

# Fake account detection

A [fake account](/docs/v3/concepts/fake-account) is one that isn't a real person who intends to use your product, usually a bot creating accounts in bulk.

## Step 1: Set up login and signup protection

Before anything else here, set up [Signup protection](/docs/v3/fundamentals/signup-protection) and [Login protection](/docs/v3/fundamentals/login-protection). They're the basis this builds on, and without them the policies below can be bypassed. With those in place, the rest of this guide covers the policies that actually stop fake accounts.

## Step 2: Add the policies

Add these in your [policies dashboard](https://app.rupt.dev/policies):

| Policy                 | Trigger  | Conditions                                                                                 | Verdict   |
| ---------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------- |
| Block fake contacts    | `signup` | `email_is_invalid`, `email_is_disposable`, or a VoIP / bought phone number _(coming soon)_ | Deny      |
| Verify new accounts    | `signup` | `is_email_verified` is `false`                                                             | Challenge |
| Challenge bot sign-ups | `signup` | `bot_risk_severity` is `high`+ _(coming soon)_                                             | Challenge |

Give the block policy higher priority than the challenge, so a clear-cut fake is denied outright instead of just challenged. Everything else falls through to the verify challenge: a real person clears the email or SMS code, a bot or throwaway can't.

From here you can stack more onboarding protections on top, like [multi-accounting prevention](/docs/v3/guides/multi-accounting-prevention).

## Related

- [Multi-accounting prevention](/docs/v3/guides/multi-accounting-prevention)
- [Fake account](/docs/v3/concepts/fake-account)
- [Email quality](/docs/v3/concepts/email)