Powerful criminal networks in Southeast Asia are widely using the messaging app Telegram, enabling a fundamental shift in the way organized crime can carry out illicit activities on a large scale, the United Nations said Monday in a statement. a report.
The report represents the latest allegations leveled against the controversial encrypted app since France, using a strict new law with no international equivalent, accused its boss Pavel Durov of allowing criminal activity on the platform.
Hacked data, including credit card details, passwords and browser history, is openly exchanged on a large scale on the app, which has sprawling and poorly moderated channels, the Office report says of the United Nations on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Tools used for cybercrime, including so-called deepfake software designed for fraud, and data-stealing malware are also widely sold, while unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges offer money laundering services, according to the report .
“We move 3 million stolen US dollars abroad every day,” the report said, citing an announcement in Chinese.
There is “strong evidence that underground data marketplaces are shifting to Telegram and that providers are actively seeking to target transnational organized crime groups based in Southeast Asia,” the report said.
Southeast Asia has become a major hub for a multi-billion dollar industry that targets victims around the world with fraudulent schemes.
Many are Chinese labor unions that operate out of fortified compounds occupied by trafficked workers.
The industry generates between $27.4 billion and $36.5 billion annually, UNODC said.
Durov, of Russian origin, was arrested in Paris in August and accused of enabling criminal activity on the platform, including the distribution of sexual images of children.
The ruling highlighted the criminal liability of app providers and also sparked a debate about where freedom of expression ends and law enforcement begins.
Telegram, which has nearly a billion users, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After his arrest, Durov, who is currently out on bail, said the app would hand over users’ IP addresses and phone numbers to authorities upon legal request.
He also said the app would remove some features that have been misused for illegal activities.
Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC deputy representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said the app provides an easily navigable environment for criminals.
“For consumers, this means their data is at higher risk than ever of being used in scams or other criminal activities,” he told Reuters.
The report says the scale of profits made by criminal groups in the region has forced them to innovate, adding that they have integrated new business models and technologies, including malware, generative artificial intelligence and deepfakes, in their operations.
The UNODC said it had identified more than 10 deepfake software service providers “specifically targeting criminal groups involved in cyber fraud in Southeast Asia.”
Elsewhere in Asia, police in South Korea – considered the country most targeted by deepfake pornography – have reportedly launched an investigation into Telegram to determine whether it encourages online sex crimes.
Reuters also reported last month that a hacker used chatbots on Telegram to leak data from India’s leading insurer Star Health, prompting the insurer to sue the platform.
Using chatbots, Reuters was able to upload policy and claims documents containing names, phone numbers, addresses, tax details, copies of ID cards, test results and medical diagnoses.
