diff --git a/src/telegram/inbound.ts b/src/telegram/inbound.ts
index 97c18df5b..c5c377614 100644
--- a/src/telegram/inbound.ts
+++ b/src/telegram/inbound.ts
@@ -60,13 +60,14 @@ export async function convertTelegramMessage(
  * Extract sender identifier with telegram: prefix to prevent session ID collisions.
  *
  * Returns:
- * - telegram:@username (if username available)
+ * - telegram:@username (if username available, lowercase for case-insensitive matching)
  * - telegram:+phone (if phone available, normalized to E.164)
  * - telegram:id (numeric Telegram ID as fallback)
  */
 function extractSenderIdentifier(sender: Api.User | Api.Chat): string {
   if ("username" in sender && sender.username) {
-    return `telegram:@${sender.username}`;
+    // Lowercase username for case-insensitive matching (Telegram usernames are case-insensitive)
+    return `telegram:@${sender.username.toLowerCase()}`;
   }
   if ("phone" in sender && sender.phone) {
     // Ensure phone has + prefix for E.164 format to match normalized allowFrom entries
@@ -209,6 +210,10 @@ export function isAllowedSender(
     return true; // No whitelist = allow all
   }
 
+  if (allowFrom.includes("*")) {
+    return true; // Wildcard allows all senders
+  }
+
   const normalizedFrom = normalizeAllowFromEntry(message.from, "telegram");
   const normalizedAllowList = allowFrom.map((e) =>
     normalizeAllowFromEntry(e, "telegram"),
diff --git a/src/telegram/monitor.ts b/src/telegram/monitor.ts
index 8cccd2a30..1ca499a7c 100644
--- a/src/telegram/monitor.ts
+++ b/src/telegram/monitor.ts
@@ -170,11 +170,10 @@ async function handleInboundMessage(
         normalizeAllowFromEntry(e, "telegram"),
       );
       if (!normalizedAllowList.includes(normalizedFrom)) {
-        if (isVerbose()) {
-          logVerbose(
-            `Skipping auto-reply: sender ${message.from} not in allowFrom list`,
-          );
-        }
+        // Always log skipped messages (not just in verbose mode)
+        runtime.log(
+          `⏭️  Skipped message from ${message.from} (not in allowFrom list)`,
+        );
         return;
       }
     }
diff --git a/src/telegram/utils.ts b/src/telegram/utils.ts
index 8428a4ea8..7c3745dee 100644
--- a/src/telegram/utils.ts
+++ b/src/telegram/utils.ts
@@ -6,13 +6,17 @@ type Entity = Api.User | Api.Chat | Api.Channel;
 /**
  * Resolve Telegram entity (user/chat) from identifier.
  * Supports @username, phone number, or user ID.
+ * Also handles telegram: prefix (e.g., telegram:@username).
  */
 export async function resolveEntity(
   client: TelegramClient,
   identifier: string,
 ): Promise<Entity> {
-  // Clean identifier
-  const clean = identifier.trim();
+  // Clean identifier and strip telegram: prefix if present
+  let clean = identifier.trim();
+  if (clean.startsWith("telegram:")) {
+    clean = clean.slice("telegram:".length);
+  }
 
   // Try as-is first (handles @username, phone, user ID)
   try {