Anatomy of telegram group investment scams

telegram scam

(first published Feb. 25, 2020)

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(Check out 14 ways to identify crypto scams here)

It’s no longer news. Telegram has been the breeding ground of various investment scams for a while now. What’s baffling however is the rate at which unsuspecting victims still fall for it. The truth is if you can still fall for an investment scam on telegram, you can fall for anything considering Telegram scams are so easy to spot.

In this post, I breakdown the methods used by most scam telegram groups and what to look out for. I’ll be using a fake telegram group — House of Awareness, as case study. House of Awareness telegram group promises people huge impossible returns on their investment.

house of awareness

Let’s begin.

  1. No website: Investment platforms without website is a No-No. The reason why these scammers use telegram is simple — Telegram provides an inexpensive, disposable and easy to use way to reach out to as many people as possible. Using some special bots these scammers can add as many people as possible to their telegram groups without requiring any consent. What’s more, telegram allows you to easily stay anonymous by creating any username of your choice without any real proof of identity. Remember, nobody loves anonymity as much as scammers. The same principle should be applied to telegram bots promising you daily profits. As a rule of thumb, do not subscribe to any telegram bot too.
  2. Fake payment proof: Every scammer knows the importance of social proof. And this is why a constant feature of all fake investment telegram groups are fake testimonials. Testimonials are great alright, but when a group has more testimonial screenshots than real conversations then you know something’s up. Our case study House of Awareness has lots and loads of testimonials in the form of pictures, videos, gifs and screenshot. Every time you scroll, you see it so much it’s almost dizzying. Now that’s not weird at all…lol
fake payment proof
  1. Unnatural Conversations: This is another easy way to spot scam telegram groups. Telegram scammers take advantage of the fact that telegram allows you to easily create multiple accounts. So here’s what they’ll do. Some scammers act alone creating multiple accounts while others recruit their friends and create as many accounts as possible. But it’s easy to tell. Many of the conversations are repeated and in the same style. For example on House of awareness (our case study), the script is so stale. It usually goes like this. One member posts payment proof and then 5 or 6 more members congratulates him on his winnings so much you’d think they are getting a cut from the profits too. Come on now, no one can be that happy for a stranger’s profits. And this scenario plays out over and over again.
unnatural conversations
  1. Lots of inspirational messages: These scammers usually fill their telegram groups with lots of cheesy inspirational quotes asking you to take the plunge and invest. Be warned.
inspirational messages

5. Getting kicked out: Ask too many questions or question the authenticity of the group and you’ll be kicked out. You should be happy. It’s a win-win. Win for you because you just escaped a potential scam. Win for them because they yanked off a buzz kill who’s about to crash their scam business.

Guess what? In the end, your boy was kicked out of the House of Awareness telegram group for calling them out. Yeah, I practice what I preach.

Commit these simple tips to mind and you’ll be safe.

(See my list of recommended investment platforms here)

Got Questions?

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