Criminal Gangs Exploit Telegram for Cybercrime and Data Theft

Telegram has become an app used by crime gangs in Southeast Asia, a UN report says.

The UN Drugs and Crime division says this app has gone beyond being an instant messaging app. It’s now a digital platform where crime gangs can commit cybercrime in full force. That means fraud schemes, deepfake software and more are available through the app.

According to the UN, the growing evidence has proven this as vendors are now using the app to commit cybercrime.

The report showed how the figures enable crime and fraud to reach $36.5B annually. Human trafficking is also on the rise thanks to the app which helps criminals get targets.

Another report showed how users have been using terms related to deepfake tech for quite some time now. This just proves how demand and interest in this field have grown over time. There is also a growing number of hacked data featuring users’ sensitive credentials. These are being sold for big money, the UN says.

This is bad news for users who may not be aware their data is being stolen and sold and used in scams at alarming rates. There was also discussion about the app’s chatbots helping buyers get illegal materials.

The media outlet can get the victims’ personal information such as names, addresses, numbers and even tax data. This includes ID information and medical records through the app. To get the data, they do phishing scams, generate malware or do data-breaching.

Through this app, criminals can buy malware, do money laundering and buy deepfake software. Bots will do all of this under the app’s moderation team and all scammers need to pay is $250.

The company is already in deep trouble after the CEO was arrested in France for allowing illegal activities on the app. Reports said they were selling drugs, promoting explicit content and even criminal behavior. Cases of crypto scams and money laundering were also common.