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Telegram deleted 43.5 million channels, but the black market survived.
Telegram deleted more than 43.5 million channels and groups in 2025, but criminal communities did not disappear. Open Measures
The messenger's archives for 2024, 2025, and 2026 saw not a decline, but a restructuring. Channels with stolen credentials, bank card dumps, phishing kits, and fake documents simply changed their names and built anew their audience.
The sharpest increase in posts with signs of cybercriminal activity began in the fall of 2025. In the 2026 sample, such messages were approximately four times higher than the year before. Previously, scammers often hid behind the names of American political movements, but now they are moving to cryptocurrency chats, over-the-counter trading channels, and job posting groups.
Job postings offered to find victims on dating sites and receive payments in USDT for the first deposit. Crypto channels sold passport scans, bank statements, selfies with documents, accounts, and money laundering services. Some of the ads were published by bots, so the blocking of one channel quickly turned into a relocation rather than a final one.
Telegram deleted more than 43.5 million channels and groups in 2025, but criminal communities did not disappear. Open Measures
The messenger's archives for 2024, 2025, and 2026 saw not a decline, but a restructuring. Channels with stolen credentials, bank card dumps, phishing kits, and fake documents simply changed their names and built anew their audience.
The sharpest increase in posts with signs of cybercriminal activity began in the fall of 2025. In the 2026 sample, such messages were approximately four times higher than the year before. Previously, scammers often hid behind the names of American political movements, but now they are moving to cryptocurrency chats, over-the-counter trading channels, and job posting groups.
Job postings offered to find victims on dating sites and receive payments in USDT for the first deposit. Crypto channels sold passport scans, bank statements, selfies with documents, accounts, and money laundering services. Some of the ads were published by bots, so the blocking of one channel quickly turned into a relocation rather than a final one.