What a Telegram account tells you
Very little. A username, a display name and a photo are all chosen by the person, and can be changed in seconds. A phone number is hidden by default. An account that looks years old may have been bought last week. None of this is a flaw in the app; it was built for privacy, and privacy and proof pull in opposite directions.
What you can check yourself
Open their profile and look for a username that matches what they told you, letter for letter. Impersonators rely on a swapped character. Search the profile photo elsewhere. Notice whether they found you or you found them, and whether they are steering you towards a payment, a different app or a decision that has to be made today.
These checks catch carelessness. They do not tell you who is on the other end.
Ask for a check, in the chat
The useful question is narrow: are you a real person, are you an adult, are these your photos, is this your name. Ask for the one that matters for what you are about to do, and ask it where the conversation already is.
With Realr you send a link. They open it in a browser, see exactly what is being asked, and choose what to confirm. They do not need an account to look, and their documents and number never travel with the answer.
Send yours first
A request lands differently when it arrives with your own verified profile above it. It turns a test into an exchange, and it answers the question they were about to ask you. This is the order we would suggest every time.
Doing it without leaving Telegram
If you have Realr connected to Telegram, type the bot’s name in the chat and pick what to send: your Realr, a request for them, or both. It goes out from your own account like any other message. When they answer, the bot tells you.
If you do not, copy the link from Realr and paste it. It is the same link and the same page for them.
If they will not
Some people have good reasons, and some are not who they say. You do not need to work out which. You only need to decide whether you are comfortable going ahead with someone who would not take thirty seconds to show they are real, before money, a meeting or anything personal is involved.