The Israeli cybersecurity company Cybersiixgill, which specializes in research on the "dark" and "deep" parts of the Network, checked Telegram. The researchers concluded that messenger has become a platform for cybercriminals and many services from the "dark Internet" have moved to Telegram.
The researchers noted that creating and maintaining websites with a pseudo-top-level domain .onionis many times more expensive than creating bots and Telegram channels. For this reason, cybercriminals have started to provide some services in the messenger — attackers sell stolen bank cards, bank statements and compromised financial data of companies in Telegram.
Experts from Cybersiixgill published a report, according to which, the peak of popularity of the provision of services by hackers occurred in the spring-summer of 2020. Now the figures are several times smaller, but still remain at a fairly high level compared to other messengers.
Sales volume in 2020 and 2021
Analysts of the company believe that the sharp drop of 60% is due to the general reduction in the issuance of new bank cards during the pandemic. Also, researchers do not rule out the fact that carding is losing its popularity among cybercriminals and attackers are increasingly resorting to ransomware.
Volume of offers to the payment platform
Experts noted that most often Telegram sells access to stolen PayPal, Chase and Western Union accounts. PayPal's popularity among scammers is explained by the fact that the platform supports a direct withdrawal method. Usually, money from stolen accounts is used to buy cryptocurrency, and the fraudster becomes almost impossible to track down. In addition, the attackers themselves offer money laundering services via PayPal.
Money laundering services via PayPal
Telegram also sells bank card data with CVV/CVV2 codes, which are necessary for making online purchases. Card prices range from $ 10 to $ 1,500 per card. Price formation is influenced by the "freshness" of data and balance.
Selling bank card data for $ 10
Maps of users who do not yet know that their data has "leaked" are considered more valuable and sell more expensive.
A valuable $ 1,500 bank card
In the messenger channels, you can buy user credentials in financial organizations. You can also use this data to make online purchases and make transfers to other accounts.
User Credentials
The researchers noted that financial fraud is a small part of the activity of cybercriminals in Telegram. You can use the messenger to buy databases of various organizations, personal data of users, and much more. Telegram accounts are linked to a phone number, so criminals register using SIM cards with false information about the owner, which complicates their capture.
The researchers noted that creating and maintaining websites with a pseudo-top-level domain .onionis many times more expensive than creating bots and Telegram channels. For this reason, cybercriminals have started to provide some services in the messenger — attackers sell stolen bank cards, bank statements and compromised financial data of companies in Telegram.
Experts from Cybersiixgill published a report, according to which, the peak of popularity of the provision of services by hackers occurred in the spring-summer of 2020. Now the figures are several times smaller, but still remain at a fairly high level compared to other messengers.
Analysts of the company believe that the sharp drop of 60% is due to the general reduction in the issuance of new bank cards during the pandemic. Also, researchers do not rule out the fact that carding is losing its popularity among cybercriminals and attackers are increasingly resorting to ransomware.
Experts noted that most often Telegram sells access to stolen PayPal, Chase and Western Union accounts. PayPal's popularity among scammers is explained by the fact that the platform supports a direct withdrawal method. Usually, money from stolen accounts is used to buy cryptocurrency, and the fraudster becomes almost impossible to track down. In addition, the attackers themselves offer money laundering services via PayPal.
Money laundering services via PayPal
Telegram also sells bank card data with CVV/CVV2 codes, which are necessary for making online purchases. Card prices range from $ 10 to $ 1,500 per card. Price formation is influenced by the "freshness" of data and balance.
Selling bank card data for $ 10
Maps of users who do not yet know that their data has "leaked" are considered more valuable and sell more expensive.
A valuable $ 1,500 bank card
In the messenger channels, you can buy user credentials in financial organizations. You can also use this data to make online purchases and make transfers to other accounts.
User Credentials
The researchers noted that financial fraud is a small part of the activity of cybercriminals in Telegram. You can use the messenger to buy databases of various organizations, personal data of users, and much more. Telegram accounts are linked to a phone number, so criminals register using SIM cards with false information about the owner, which complicates their capture.
