Blog
Cracking Down On Deception: A Look At Telegram Account Banning Post Policy Change
Background On 2024 Events
- Following Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s arrest back in August 2024, Telegram implemented a new policy in September 2024 allowing for the disclosure of IP addresses and phone numbers to relevant law enforcement authorities.1 Pavel Durov himself commented that this “should discourage criminals.2
- Many cybercriminals discussed whether Telegram’s response would also extend to heightened curbing of illicit activity present on the platform.
- In October of 2024, Q6 Cyber released a report detailing the appearance of a short-lived, panicked response by fraudsters.
- At the time of our report, although there were mixed responses by fraudsters, many appeared to adopt a “wait and see” perspective rather than fully migrate to another platform.
DID TELEGRAM’S ACTIONS MATCH THEIR WORDS?
According to Telegram, over 16 million channels were blocked in 2024, and spikes in the number of bans appear shortly after the policy update.3
Our visibility on the platform also aligns with Telegram’s statistics. We noted over a 500% increase in the average number of channel/group bans from September 2024 through January 2025 compared to the earlier portion of the year, likely stemming from the policy update.
BACK IN THE GAME? THE BUSINESS OF BYPASSING BANS
Between September 2024 and January 2025, we observed an increased demand for “unbanning services” amongst cybercriminals. It is unclear how successful (or unsuccessful) these services are.
- There was a 120% increase in chatter related to “unbanning” Telegram accounts between September 2024 and January 2025 compared to the prior months.
Telegram does have an appeal process where you can request that a banned bot or channel be reinstated.
TAKEAWAYS
- It is unknown whether Telegram’s heightened enforcement will continue this year or whether it was a short-lived strategy to satisfy the negative press from the latter half of 2024.
- We’ve observed that despite the bans, in general, cybercriminal and fraudulent activity on Telegram remains relatively consistent with average recorded volumes.
- Furthermore, the increased popularity for “unbanning services” during this same time frame may suggest cybercriminals continued desire to continue to remain on the platform.