YEREVAN, September 4. /ARKA/. A new scam technique is becoming widespread in the Russian-language segment of Telegram, including among users in Armenia. Scammers are leveraging the messenger’s features alongside psychological pressure to blackmail users and extort money in exchange for maintaining access to their accounts.
How the Scam Works: From a Single Button to Blackmail
- The Bait: The user receives a link to a Telegram bot under the guise of participating in a survey, a prize draw, receiving a gift, or verifying their account. For credibility, the name and design of the bot may imitate official services, such as Telegram Support, Wallet, or BotFather.
- The “Start” Button: The victim is asked to launch the bot. Pressing the “Start” button itself does not hand control of your account over to the scammers, but it indicates that the user has responded to the bait and is willing to continue interacting.
- Blackmail and Threats: Immediately after the bot is launched, a scammer reaches out. The pressure scenario is always the same: scammers claim that by clicking “Start,” the user became the “owner” of a malicious bot. They threaten that unless money is transferred, they will use their network of accounts to send mass reports against the bot. Under the platform’s rules, Telegram’s algorithms may blocknot only the bot itself, but also the account that interacted with it or to which it is linked. Scammers frighten the victim with the complete and permanent loss of their personal profile, chats, and contacts.
Important Detail
The main weapon in this scheme is not technical vulnerability in Telegram, but psychological pressure. Pressing the “Start” button alone does not give scammers the right to manage or delete your account.
You should not believe claims that a few reports will automatically result in your profile being deleted. Telegram reviews user reports, so the threat of “we will mass-report you right now and you’ll be deleted” does not mean the scammers can do so.
Legal Trap
If you transfer money to scammers on your own, the transaction is considered voluntarily initiated and authorized by you. Recovering such a transfer later is extremely difficult. At the same time, paying money creates no obligations for criminals. They may continue the blackmail, so attempting to “buy them off” is almost never a solution to the problem.
IDBank recommends:
- Do not launch unfamiliar bots. Especially if they were recommended by strangers in chats or promised a gift for clicking a link.
- If you have already done so, do not transfer money. Paying will not stop the scammers; it will only show that you are willing to pay more.
- Immediately block the bot and report it directly through Telegram. The “Block and Report” feature is available directly on Telegram.
- Save screenshots of the conversation. These will be useful when contacting Telegram Support and the police.
Remember: the scammer’s most effective tool in this scheme is your own fear. Do not let the threat of losing an account force you into voluntarily losing money. Stop, do not pay anything, and verify any alarming messages through official channels.
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