1. Prefer live records
Screenshots and backtests are easy to present selectively. A third-party tracked live account can provide trade history, dates, drawdown and account context that are harder to evaluate from marketing material alone.
2. Check duration and trade count
A few profitable weeks or trades can be luck. Longer histories and larger samples provide more information about how the strategy behaves.
3. Compare return with drawdown
High return is less impressive if it required extreme risk. Review peak-to-trough losses and remember that historical maximum drawdown is not a future limit.
4. Confirm the account context
Identify broker, platform, currency and whether the account is live or demo. If leverage or balance changes are visible, understand how they affect interpretation.
5. Look for consistency
Unexplained gaps, large deposits, sudden strategy changes or a very different recent risk profile deserve investigation.