Over 40% of Crypto Investment Posts on Telegram Identified as Scams
Experts from AngaraSecurity used OSINT tools to analyze cryptocurrency-related posts in public Telegram channels. In total, they identified around 22,000 materials related to cryptocurrencies, of which nearly 9,000 were flagged as suspicious and later deleted.
Most of the deleted messages involved authors offering users the chance to invest in the crypto market, with promises like “turn 1,000 rubles into 70,000 rubles,” and asking for transfers to be made to a bank card.
To attract users, scammers used aggressive names for their Telegram channels, such as “Earnings Now,” “Path to Success,” “Financial Independence,” “Smart Investments,” “Crypto Farm,” “Crypto Cash,” and “Official Channel.”
Main Types of Content on These Channels
- Courses on earning money with cryptocurrencies
- Offers to invest in crypto assets
- Advertising of investor groups and channels
- Hidden advertising of various platforms
- Promotion of crypto wallets
- Discounts and bonuses for registration
“Scammers understand and track the problems not only of ordinary users but also of companies. They attract businesses with phrases like ‘your assets can’t be frozen,’ offering legal entities not only to register offshore companies but also to invest in cryptocurrency to avoid formalities when legalizing business in foreign jurisdictions,” commented Viktoria Varlamova, Senior Brand Protection Expert at AngaraSecurity.
For some schemes, scammers develop mobile apps and websites that serve as platforms for phishing and scams. For example, in 2023, nearly 1,500 domains related to investments were registered in the Russian internet segment (50% of them in the fourth quarter of 2023). Some of these domains referenced platforms like Binance and CommEX.
Currently, 697 of these domains are inactive (47% of all domains registered in 2023). Some were blocked by domain registrars, some are now up for sale to new users, and others are empty with no content, according to AngaraSecurity.
“The increase in scam platforms at the end of last year may be linked to the exit of the Binance crypto exchange from Russia and the sale of its business to a Russian company. Cybercriminals began to mimic Binance’s successor, the CommEX platform, and create similar projects for extortion,” said Varlamova.