diff --git a/volara_proof/extract/__init__.py b/volara_proof/extract/__init__.py
index cc85e87..0b0a10f 100644
--- a/volara_proof/extract/__init__.py
+++ b/volara_proof/extract/__init__.py
@@ -1,7 +1,19 @@
 import zipfile
+import json
+from volara_proof.models.user_data import UserData
 from volara_proof.buffers.tweets import Tweets
 
 
+def extract_user_data(zip_file_path: str) -> UserData | None:
+    with zipfile.ZipFile(zip_file_path, "r") as zip_ref:
+        file_names = zip_ref.namelist()
+        if "user_data.json" in file_names:
+            with zip_ref.open("user_data.json", "r") as file:
+                return UserData(**json.load(file))
+        else:
+            return None
+
+
 def extract_data(zip_file_path: str):
     """
     Extracts the data from the zip file
diff --git a/volara_proof/models/user_data.py b/volara_proof/models/user_data.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e4597f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/volara_proof/models/user_data.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+"""
+Contains the dataclass models for the Tweet data structure
+"""
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+
+@dataclass
+class UserData:
+    handle: str
+    wallet_address: str
diff --git a/volara_proof/proofs/proof.py b/volara_proof/proofs/proof.py
index 34bea99..b6bea08 100644
--- a/volara_proof/proofs/proof.py
+++ b/volara_proof/proofs/proof.py
@@ -1,19 +1,26 @@
 import copy
 
-from volara_proof.extract import extract_data
+from volara_proof.extract import extract_data, extract_user_data
 from volara_proof.proofs.proof_of_quality import proof_of_quality
 from volara_proof.models.proof_response import ProofResponse
 from volara_proof.models.proof_config import ProofConfig
 
 from volara_proof.storage.rewards import RewardsStorage
+from volara_proof.storage.user_info import UserInfoStorage
 
 rewards_storage = RewardsStorage()
+user_info_storage = UserInfoStorage()
 
 
 def proof(
     input_file: str, proof_response: ProofResponse, config: ProofConfig
 ) -> ProofResponse:
     proof_response = copy.deepcopy(proof_response)
+    user_data = extract_user_data(input_file)
+    if user_data is not None:
+        proof_response.score = 0
+        proof_response.valid = user_info_storage.verify_user(user_data)
+        return proof_response
     tweets_data = extract_data(input_file)
     is_valid, file_score, tweet_info, unique_tweets, total_tweets = (
         proof_of_quality(tweets_data, config.file_id, config)
diff --git a/volara_proof/storage/user_info.py b/volara_proof/storage/user_info.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3fac12b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/volara_proof/storage/user_info.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import logging
+import os
+import requests
+
+from volara_proof.models.user_data import UserData
+from volara_proof.constants import VOLARA_API_URL
+
+
+class UserInfoStorage:
+    def verify_user(self, user_info: UserData) -> bool:
+        request_body = {
+            "handle": user_info.handle,
+            "walletAddress": user_info.wallet_address,
+        }
+        try:
+            resp = requests.post(
+                url=f"{VOLARA_API_URL}/v1/validator/validate-user",
+                json=request_body,
+                headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['VOLARA_API_KEY']}"},
+            )
+            resp.raise_for_status()
+            logging.info("Succesfully determined if user exists.")
+            return resp.json()["userValidated"]
+        except Exception:
+            logging.exception("[CRITICAL FAILURE] Failed to determine if user exists.")
+            raise