I've been noticing quite a bit of scammer activity on Telegram lately, so I decided to share what I've learned about how to tell if a Telegram account is fake before someone loses money.

The first thing to notice: criminals impersonate employees of well-known platforms. They use official logos, seemingly legitimate names, but if you look closely, there are details that don't add up. The trick is that many put false information in the profile bio, but the true identity of the account is in the username. That’s what you should check first.

I saw a case where someone received a message from a 'financial advisor' offering to participate in an airdrop. Then, the same guy ( clearly another user ) contacted them saying they needed to pay taxes and sent a malicious link. Typical. These scammers know that most people don’t verify accounts properly.

Now, how to practically tell if a Telegram account is fake: look at the username letter by letter. Some use characters that look very similar to the originals but are different, like replacing the uppercase 'I' with a lowercase 'l'. They look identical at a glance, but they’re not. That’s a huge red flag.

There are also fake bots pretending to be customer service. They are placed in Telegram groups with logos of known platforms, and then they start promoting fake mining activities asking you to send ETH to receive tokens that never arrive.

To protect yourself: always verify the full profile information, not just what you see in the bio. Download Telegram only from official sources, because there are repackaged versions with malware floating around. Enable two-factor authentication on your account (Profile → Privacy and Security → Two-step verification ). Never share passwords, seed phrases, or banking information via Telegram, no matter who claims to be.

One more thing: if someone invites you to an investment campaign promising absurd profits, be suspicious. Especially if they say it’s an official launch but it’s actually promoted on a different platform. Always visit official sites to verify legitimate events.

The reality is that learning how to tell if a Telegram account is fake is basic now if you use the app for crypto-related topics. Take two minutes to check usernames, verify download sources, and don’t click links from people you don’t know. That way, you avoid most problems.