Telegram, crypto, and the dark side of Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia has become a hub for malicious crypto hacks, tricks, and deep fakes, with Telegram as the scammers’ main platform of choice. It really is the wild wild west.

Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC’s deputy representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said the app was an easily navigable environment for criminals. “For consumers, this means their data is at a higher risk of being fed into scams or other criminal activity than ever before,” he told Reuters.

Almost all crypto facilitations run through the Telegram app because of its unique encryption ability, making it ideal as a form of communication. It provides freedom, UI, UX, and flawless messaging, which attracts individuals and communities.

Hear me out though, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, there is also a dark side to Telegram. Fraudsters are using it to take advantage of the community’s trust, scamming both the general public as well as major corporations that transact in crypto.

I see hacks being carried out in-app as well as people being baited to leave the app using malicious links. Clicking these links takes unfortunate victims and their computers through a pool of malware.

So, always be careful when clicking links of anonymous individuals, most are not what they seem!

The rise of AI is also having an impact. With the technology progressing at this rapid rate, deep fakes are becoming more and more common. People start by creating false identities to “prove” that they are real people – when in fact they are not – to get you trust them.

It’s a way to trick people into falling for them, getting on video calls using or submitting fake imagery that are in fact false identities, simply to get you to put down your psychological walls and comply with their wants.

It is very common for people to get scammed in this space, because of its freedom and decentralized nature, you are fully responsible for what happens.

I and others in the community, especially in Southeast Asia, like to give people the benefit of the doubt and be compassionate, so we do sometimes overlook the due diligence we should put into checking the background of the people we’re interacting with.

Unfortunately, we are only human, and a lot of us can fall victim to heinous acts by bad actors.

If someone loses funds through malicious activities governed by the current – centralized - financial system, there are ways to get their lost money back.

Whereas, if you lose money on a messaging apps such as Telegram, it will be almost impossible to submit a lawsuit to the individual you are interacting with.

In crypto and especially Southeast Asia, there are very limited judicial and legal policies. It is almost impossible to take crypto crimes to court. Most people remain anonymous when dealing with crypto transactions, you never know who’s behind the computer you’re transacting with, or the account you’re interacting with.

I believe these norms will change and Telegram will incorporate a system of much stricter regulation, whether it’s through proof of identity or escrow services enforced in the app. Maybe even a peer-to-peer service that has active customer support monitoring the transaction.

The coming years will show the true colors of this space and, until then, stay safe, secure, and conscious enough not to fall for the tricks and hacks.