Verification of user registration

[susanbfarrar]

I'm building a RESTAURANT site that allows restaurant owners to add records describing their restaurants. My concern is that unauthorized individuals may enter a record for a restaurant (competitors, waiters, angry customers).

What strategies are you using to verify that users are who they say they are, in this case restaurant owners or managers?

1. Do I phone each user that posts a new record?
2. Do I accept that users are who they say they are?
3. Or, .........

Thanks in advance!
~susan~

[Bill Wilkinson]

No perfect answer.

If possible, email the restaurants with an invitation to join your site and include a password specific to that restaurant.

If not, require registration and hope that the first person to sign up for a given restaurant is indeed a representative of that restaurant.

When do discover fraud, all you can do is wipe the content. Presumably, you will discover the fraud via contact from the real representative.