

List of off-the-shelf pages in the same domainĭistributing the links is something the wannabe phisher has to do without any help from the bot. The sites may mimic various services: PUBG, Facebook, PayPal and so on. Once the user feeds the token to the first bot, it generates a series of links to fake websites hosted in the same domain.Phishing bot asking the user to set up a new bot and share the token It is the budding scammer’s job to set up that new bot on Telegram, but that process is also automated and no rocket science. The purpose of this second bot is to capture data of users who follow the phishing links and attempt to log in to the fake website. The bot offers the user to create a new bot of their own and share the token with the main bot.

In the example below, the bot speaks English and Arabic. The wannabe phisher joins the bot creator’s channel.Īs a rule, the bot offers to select a language once started. The process of creating a fake website with a Telegram bot typically includes the following steps:

Malicious actors use Telegram bots to automate illegal activities, such as generating phishing pages or collecting user data. Free content for aspiring phishers Automated phishing with Telegram botsįunctional and configurable, Telegram bots help private users and businesses with automating many routine workflows, such as searching for and retrieving information on schedule, answering frequently asked questions from customers, setting up reminders and many others. The Telegram black market: what’s on offerĪfter reviewing phishers’ Telegram channels that we detected, we broke down the services they promoted into paid and free. This story covers the variety of phishing services available on Telegram, their details and pricing, and ways of detecting phishing content that originates in Telegram. Links to the channels are spread via YouTube, GitHub and phishing kits they make. To promote their “goods”, phishers create Telegram channels through which they educate their audience about phishing and entertain subscribers with polls like, “What type of personal data do you prefer?”. They have become adept at using Telegram both for automating their activities and for providing various services - from selling phishing kits to helping with setting up custom phishing campaigns - to all willing to pay. The service is especially popular with phishers. Common users are not the only ones who have recognized the messaging app’s handy features - cybercrooks have already made it a branch of the dark web, their Telegram activity soaring since late 2021. Telegram has been gaining popularity with users around the world year by year.
