My friend recommended me this exchange to trade but I wanted to KYC in advance to avoid any surprises. It may be strict, but I passed it, just followed the instructions and got verified in a couple of days. No complaints of any edited photos from them, the procedure is clear and straightforward. So far so good, hope it stays that way 
Good for you, you will then experienced it later on once you withdraw larger amount. As for all of those victims, they were asked not just personal info including ID but with different documents too. And not having multiple account is not the only way you will encounter such BS verdict from HitBTC. Still good luck, lol.