Images have become a critical part of the web. Ebay, Craigslist, Facebook, and online dating sites all rely on images to verify authenticity. But what happens when you come across a listing that seems too good to be true?
While there is no way to guarantee that a listing is genuine, there is one quick test that can tell you it is definitely fake. Both Google and Bing have an option to enter an image as your search term, and it will return other places where that image can be found. If you find a profile picture from someone's dating profile all over the internet, chances are good that the listing is fake. If an Ebay or Craigslist photo is actually the manufacturer's stock photo, it might not be fake, but there is definitely reason to be concerned about the item's actual condition.
To do a reverse image search, you must first find the URL (internet address) of the picture (not of the page you see the image on.) To get the image URL, right-click on the picture, and then select the following option (depending on your browser):
Internet Explorer - "Copy"
Firefox - "Copy Image Location"
Chrome - "Copy Image URL"
Now that we have the URL, we are ready to go to Google or Bing and search:
Google - Go to google.com/images and click on the camera icon on the right of the search box. Then click on Paste image URL. Right-click in the box underneath and select paste. Then, click on "Search by Image" to see a list of the pages with your picture.
Bing - Go to bing.com/images and click on "Image Match" next to the search box. Right-click in the search box and click paste. Then, click on the search icon to see a list of the pages with your picture.
Once again, no matches does not necessarily mean that the listing is legitimate, but numerous matches greatly increases the likelihood that the listing is fake.
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