> If I told them who I was and then failed to verify that, they don't know who I am because they think I'm lying about who I am.

They know who you claim to be. It’s not like they just delete all information about you when you fail verification. They are perfectly capable of seeing that two separate accounts are both claiming to be the same person.

> Otherwise what stops me DoSing Sam Altman's account by saying I'm him and then failing to verify?

For Sam Altman in particular? The fact that he’s the CEO. For people in general? Do you have their passport / driving license, and other details needed to attempt the verification process?

Of course not, that's why I fail verification as them. If I had their passport I'd pass verification as them.

Fun fact, if you're celebrity you get a special customer support phone number at most major corporations EG Apple because "Hi I'm Taylor Swift" gets tried a lot.

How do they get the customer support number to that celebrity?

E.G> when Taylor Swift wants to call Apple right now, how would she know what number to call?

Incidentally, https://people.com/pope-leo-was-hung-up-on-by-bank-customer-...

I presume you get connected somehow when opening up a high-value account at a participating bank. If that account has some sort of concierge service, I presume that’s how special numbers for other companies might be distributed.

Pope Leo is not that rich, and had lived outside the US for many years (he came up in the church hierarchy of Latin America), so it’s not that surprising that he ran into this situation.

Link: 403 Not Allowed

>Do you have their passport / driving license, and other details needed to attempt the verification process?

You do not need real documents if your goal is to get the person locked out by using fake documents.