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Social Analyzer provides three distinct detection modes, each designed for different use cases and performance requirements. The detection mechanism uses a rating system from 0 to 100 (No-Maybe-Yes) to minimize false positives.

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Fast Mode

Fast mode (FindUserProfilesFast) uses HTTPS library requests to quickly scan profiles across multiple social media platforms. This is the recommended mode for most investigations.

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How It Works

The fast scanner:
  • Makes parallel HTTP requests to profile URLs
  • Analyzes HTML source code for detection patterns
  • Extracts titles, text content, and language information
  • Applies detection algorithms to determine profile existence
  • Retries failed requests automatically (up to 3 attempts)

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Detection Process

From fast-scan.js:81-97, the fast mode: 
const [ret, source] = await helper.get_url_wrapper_text(
  site.url.replace('{username}', username)
)

const [temp_profile, temp_detected, detections_count] = 
  await engine.detect('fast', uuid, username, options, site, source)

if (temp_profile.found >= detection_level.found && 
    detections_count >= detection_level.count) {
  temp_profile.good = 'true'
}

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Performance Characteristics

  • Workers: Processes 15 parallel requests by default
  • Retries: Automatically retries failed requests up to 3 times
  • Timeout: 2-5 seconds per request (configurable)
  • Best For: Initial broad scans across many platforms

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Usage Example

# Fast mode (default)
node app.js --username "johndoe"

# Fast mode explicit
node app.js --username "johndoe" --mode fast

# With metadata extraction
node app.js --username "johndoe" --metadata
Fast mode is the default and most efficient option for scanning across 1000+ websites. It provides a good balance between speed and accuracy.

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Slow Mode

Slow mode (FindUserProfilesSlow) uses Selenium WebDriver with headless Firefox to render JavaScript and interact with dynamic content. This mode provides more accurate results for JavaScript-heavy websites.

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How It Works

The slow scanner:
  • Launches headless Firefox browsers for each profile check
  • Waits for JavaScript to execute and content to load
  • Captures screenshots of detected profiles
  • Extracts both rendered HTML and visible text
  • Supports OCR detection for image-based content
  • Uses configurable implicit waits and timeouts

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Detection Techniques

From slow-scan.js:65-96, the slow mode implements: 
const driver = new Builder()
  .forBrowser('firefox')
  .setFirefoxOptions(new firefox.Options().headless().windowSize({
    width: 640,
    height: 480
  }))
  .build()

await driver.get(link)
source = await driver.getPageSource()
screen_shot = await driver.takeScreenshot()
title = await driver.getTitle()
text_only = await driver.findElement(By.tagName('body')).getText()

const [temp_profile, temp_detected, detections_count] = 
  await engine.detect('slow', uuid, username, options, site, 
                      source, text_only, screen_shot)

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Advanced Features

  • Screenshots: Captures profile screenshots in base64 format
  • OCR Detection: Can detect usernames in images
  • JavaScript Rendering: Handles SPAs and dynamic content
  • Grid Support: Can use Selenium Grid for distributed scanning

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Performance Characteristics

  • Workers: Processes 8 parallel browser instances
  • Memory: Higher memory usage due to browser instances
  • Timeout: 5-10 seconds per profile (configurable per site)
  • Best For: High-accuracy scans on specific platforms

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Usage Example

# Slow mode with screenshots
node app.js --username "johndoe" --mode slow --screenshots

# Slow mode with specific websites
node app.js --username "johndoe" --mode slow --websites "facebook twitter"
Slow mode requires Firefox and geckodriver to be installed. It consumes significantly more resources than fast mode.

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Special Mode

Special mode (FindUserProfilesSpecial) implements custom detection logic for specific platforms that require unique interaction patterns or authentication flows.

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Supported Platforms

From special-scan.js:15-24, special mode currently supports:
  1. Facebook - Detects profiles using phone numbers, names, or profile names
  2. Gmail - Validates Gmail account existence
  3. Google - Checks Google account existence

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Facebook Detection

The Facebook special detection (special-scan.js:33-84): 
const link = 'https://mbasic.facebook.com/login/identify/?ctx=recover'
await driver.get(link)
await driver.findElement(By.id('identify_search_text_input'))
  .sendKeys(username)
await driver.findElement(By.id('did_submit')).click()
source = await driver.getPageSource()

if (source.includes('Try Entering Your Password')) {
  temp_profile.found += 1
}

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Gmail Detection

The Gmail special detection (special-scan.js:86-136): 
const link = 'https://accounts.google.com/signup/v2/webcreateaccount...'
await driver.get(link)
await driver.findElement(By.id('username')).sendKeys(username)
await driver.findElement(By.id('selectioni1')).click()
const text_only = await driver.findElement(By.tagName('body')).getText()

if (text_only.includes('That username is taken') && 
    !text_only.includes('your username must be between')) {
  temp_profile.found += 1
}

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Google Account Detection

The Google special detection (special-scan.js:138-188): 
const link = 'https://accounts.google.com/signin/v2/identifier...'
await driver.get(link)
await driver.findElement(By.id('identifierId')).sendKeys(username)
await driver.findElement(By.xpath("//button[contains(.,'Next')]")).click()
const text_only = await driver.findElement(By.tagName('body')).getText()

if (text_only.includes("Couldn't sign you in") && 
    !text_only.includes("Couldn't find your")) {
  temp_profile.found += 1
}

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Performance Characteristics

  • Workers: Processes 5 parallel special checks
  • Timeout: 10 seconds per platform
  • Best For: High-value targets on specific platforms

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Usage Example

# Special mode for email/phone detection
node app.js --username "[email protected]" --mode special

# Special mode for Facebook profile
node app.js --username "+1234567890" --mode special
Use special mode when you have specific identifiers like email addresses or phone numbers. It provides the most accurate results for supported platforms.

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Detection Rating System

All detection modes use a scoring system to rate profile matches:
  • 100%: Perfect match - all detection criteria met
  • 50-99%: Maybe - some detection criteria met
  • 0-49%: Bad - few detection criteria met
The rating is calculated as: 
const temp_value = ((temp_profile.found / detections_count) * 100).toFixed(2)
temp_profile.rate = '%' + temp_value

if (temp_value >= 100.00) {
  temp_profile.status = 'good'
} else if (temp_value >= 50.00 && temp_value < 100.00) {
  temp_profile.status = 'maybe'
} else {
  temp_profile.status = 'bad'
}

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Choosing the Right Mode

ScenarioRecommended ModeReason
Initial broad scanFastCovers 1000+ sites quickly
JavaScript-heavy sitesSlowRenders dynamic content
Gmail/Facebook specificSpecialCustom detection logic
Limited resourcesFastMinimal resource usage
High accuracy neededSlowMore detection techniques
Email validationSpecialPurpose-built validators

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Detection Levels

Social Analyzer supports two detection levels:
  • High: count: 2, found: 1 - Requires fewer matches (default)
  • Extreme: count: 1, found: 2 - Requires more matches for higher confidence
These levels help reduce false positives by adjusting the threshold for positive detection.

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