Telegram The new frontier for criminal gangs? UN report reveals alarming trends in organized crime

On Monday, the UN announced in a report that the messaging app Telegraman encrypted messaging app, has been identified as a major platform for criminal activity.

What happened: The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report shows that Telegram is being exploited by criminal networks in Southeast Asia for large-scale illegal activities, Reuters reported.

The app is reportedly used to trade hacked data, including credit card details and passwords, and to sell cybercrime tools such as deepfake software and data-stealing malware.

The report also pointed out the existence of unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges on the platform, which offer money laundering services.

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The UNODC report suggests that Southeast Asia has become a major hub for a multi-billion dollar industry that targets victims worldwide with fraudulent schemes, generating between $27.4 billion and $36.5 billion annually.

The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durovwas arrested in Paris in August and charged with allowing criminal activity on the platform.

Despite his arrest, Durov, who is currently out on bail, stated that the app would cooperate with legal requests from authorities and remove features misused for illegal activities.

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Why it matters: Telegram’s privacy policy has been the subject of controversy for some time now.

Despite Durov’s claim that little has changed in the app’s privacy policy, the platform has come under scrutiny for its role in facilitating criminal activity.

Following Durov’s arrest, Telegram complied with multiple data requests from US law enforcement agencies.

Despite these measures, the UNODC warns that the app remains an easily navigable environment for criminals, putting consumer data at greater risk of being used in scams or other criminal activities, the report said.

Telegram, with more than 900 million users, reported a loss of $108 million compared to revenue of $342 million in the last fiscal year.

Durov is said to be considering an IPO for the platform, targeting a valuation of $30 billion.

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