When verifying fake news stories, it is important to identify those persons, who either feature in various publications themselves or spread disinformation. There are open online resources that help us get information about a particular individual, his/her residential place, workplace, education and interests.

1. Webmii.com is an engine to search information about this or that individual on the Internet. It may involve various accounts registered in social networks under the name of this person, email addresses, articles, tags, related persons, organizations, spheres, as well as photo and video materials. Webmii provides “an online visibility score” of a person we are searching for. In particular, it offers a 10-score assessment system to clarify whether we have to deal with a fake account or a real person. As a rule, fake accounts have a very low online visibility score.

2. People.yandex.ru is a good means for searching information about Russian-language users registered on Russian and foreign platforms. After indicating a person’s name and surname, the search engine shows information available about this person in Russian social networks, among them ВКонтакте, Одноклассники, Мой Мир, Мой Круг, and Livejournal. Besides Russian-language resources, People.yandex.ru also searches for information on Instagram, Facebook, Google +, Linkedin, Twitter and Foursquare.