TrustVerify

Inspiration

As students, we've seen friends lose money and hope to fake job scams. One friend paid $150 for a "training fee" for a non-existent data entry job. We realized that students lack tools to verify job listings and decided to build a solution that integrates directly into the job search process.

What it does

TrustVerify is a browser extension that adds color-coded verification badges (Green/Verified, Yellow/Review, Red/Reported) directly on job platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed. It combines automated company verification with crowd-sourced alerts from the student community.

How we built it (conceptually)

We focused on a feasible MVP: a Chrome extension connected to a manually-curated database of 200 verified "student-friendly" companies. Our development plan includes a 5-week timeline starting with a pilot at University of Lagos. We used Google Docs for collaboration, Gamma.ai for our pitch deck, and researched real scam statistics to validate the problem.

Challenges we faced

The biggest challenge was balancing comprehensive verification with user privacy. We solved this by designing an "allow-list only" approach for our MVP—only showing verified companies without blacklisting, which avoids false positives. Another challenge was ensuring accessibility—we designed color-blind friendly badges with pattern overlays.

What's next

We plan to partner with university career centers for our pilot program, then expand verification to include machine learning classification of scam patterns. Our goal is to protect 10,000+ students in our first year.

Built With

• chrome
• conceptual-design
• extension
• google-docs
• market-research
• prototype
• user-experience-mapping