A verified trading record is one where a third-party service connects to the trading account, usually through a read-only investor password or the broker's data feed, and publishes the trades and balance directly from the broker. The trader cannot edit it. That is the whole of what verification means, and it is a great deal, because it rules out the screenshot, the edited statement and the backtest presented as live.
What it proves
That the trades in the record were placed on that account at those prices and times. That the balance and equity shown are what the broker reports. That deposits and withdrawals happened when the record says. Where the service tracks equity, that the floating losses were what they were. Whether the account is demo or live, which any honest service shows prominently.
What it does not prove
That the strategy will keep working. That the account shown is the same one being sold; a vendor can run several and publish the best. That the record is long enough to mean anything; three good months prove nothing. That the returns were achieved at a risk you would accept; a 300 per cent year usually comes with a 70 per cent drawdown. That the trading was done by the EA on offer, rather than by hand or by a different version. And that the demo account's fills resemble what a live account would get.
Reading one
Look first at the account type, demo or live, and the start date. Then the equity curve, not the balance curve, and the maximum equity drawdown. Then deposits and withdrawals, since a large deposit after a bad month can make a drawdown vanish from a balance curve. Then the trade count, the average trade, and whether the record shows individual trades with stops. Then the leverage and lot sizes relative to balance, which show the risk taken. A record that hides any of these has chosen what to show you.
A vendor publishes a verified record showing 140 per cent in a year. It is a demo account, it began eleven months ago, the equity drawdown reached 48 per cent in month three, and lot sizes relative to balance imply around six per cent risk per trade. Every trade did have a stop. The verification is genuine and every number is real. The record describes a strategy run at a risk that almost halved the account, on demo fills, over less than a year. Verified, and not evidence of much.
Verification is necessary and not sufficient. An EA without a verified live record has no evidence at all. An EA with one has evidence that must still be read: for length, for drawdown, for risk, for account type, and for whether the behaviour matches the description. The most useful records show several accounts at different risk settings, running from a stated start date, with equity and every trade visible. The least useful show one balance curve and a return figure.
A vendor who runs their own verification service, or is closely connected to one, should say so, and the record is still only as good as the read-only connection that produced it. If the connection is read-only and the service publishes everything, the conflict is managed. If not, treat it as a screenshot.