Security risks sound the alarm again. Senior security researcher Taylor Monahan recently disclosed that a wave of targeted scam activities against Telegram users is spreading globally. Criminals are exploiting the trust in this communication app to launch attacks, resulting in over $300 million in asset losses.
How hackers carry out scams through acquaintances' identities
The cleverness of this attack lies in its highly sophisticated social engineering design. Hackers first impersonate the victim's acquaintances or industry insiders to initiate contact on Telegram. Once initial trust is established, the scammer invites the target to a seemingly normal online meeting—usually conducted via Zoom.
After the victim joins the meeting, the hacker claims technical issues with the audio, citing problems and proactively offers a "solution." This so-called patch file appears harmless but secretly contains malicious software. Once the victim downloads and executes it, the hacker...