Busting A Shady Telegram Channel

[Krislaw]

I am writing to inform you all about a scam telegram channel that always share fake exchange airdrop of same pattern to you.
I joined Airdrop Partnership Channel and discovered that they share fake exchange airdrop that organises fake giveaways like “send 0.5 ETH to receive 5 ETH instantly”.
So I decided to join one of Airdrops on the channel, I joined Bittrex Candy Bot . I submitted my ETH address and wrong email address and everything. I joined both group and channel as requested by the bot and here's is the first red flag.
1. Pinned message is about XRP Giveaway with a fake Bittrex domain.


2. I used the search button and discovered that the group was just created this month.
Tap on search.





Same thing with other ongoing airdrops there like HITBTC airdrop and others too.  This channel has been promoting fake airdrops and they are of same pattern. I'm posting this for awareness so that no one else will fall for this scam. I've reported them and you should do the same too.

PS: Sorry for bad English.

Edit: if you know of any telegram group or channel like this one, comment them below and I'll add them to the list.

[dkbit98]

Thanks for reporting this.
Telegram is full of this scam channels.
It is scary to see that over 3800 people joined them...

[iamaruf]

now a days telegram channel full of scammer and scam groups.They are trying to scam people by offering fake airdrops.I don't remember the group name because i left the group.even group people will try to contact with you through message or call.but if people have any sense then they are safe.Only greedy people jumped this kind of scam.

[rosezionjohn]

This is not the first time I have seen such method to scam airdrop or giveaway hunters but thanks for bringing it to the attention of newbies. Scammers would even try to copy a legit ICO telegram group and lure hunters thru fake airdrops using google forms.

It is scary to see that over 3800 people joined them...

It's not. They are most likely bots also. I know I have seen a post in the services section offering their telegram "add member" services.

[robelneo]

Please create a similar thread in the scam section for reference, I just log in this morning in my telegram channel and was surprised that I was added to an airdrop channel and group when I don't remember joining any bounty campaigns or airdrop because I don't like airdrop in the first place, I just leave the group and the channel and reported these two, it sems these people are now more active ib Telegram because they can control the group, compare to this forum.

[rosezionjohn]

Please create a similar thread in the scam section for reference, I just log in this morning in my telegram channel and was surprised that I was added to an airdrop channel and group when I don't remember joining any bounty campaigns or airdrop because I don't like airdrop in the first place, I just leave the group and the channel and reported these two, it sems these people are now more active ib Telegram because they can control the group, compare to this forum.

You did the right thing by reporting these scam or spam telegram groups.

If you do not want to be added to these random groups, you should change your privacy settings.

Settings > Privacy and Security > Groups > Who can invite you > My Contacts.

I'm not sure if I got the sequence correctly but you should be able to manage once you go to your privacy and security settings.


I'm still surprised that some seniors are still unaware of this telegram "trick"  

[Krislaw]

Please create a similar thread in the scam section for reference, I just log in this morning in my telegram channel and was surprised that I was added to an airdrop channel and group when I don't remember joining any bounty campaigns or airdrop because I don't like airdrop in the first place, I just leave the group and the channel and reported these two, it sems these people are now more active ib Telegram because they can control the group, compare to this forum.

If you do not want to be added to these random groups, you should change your privacy settings.

Settings > Privacy and Security > Groups and channels > Who can invite you > My Contacts.

I'm not sure if I got the sequence correctly but you should be able to manage once you go to your privacy and security settings.

Fix that part. You got the sequence correctly.

I'm still surprised that some seniors are still unaware of this telegram "trick"  

There's no all-knowing in this world, we keep learning everyday. I do learn things lower rank members too.

Please create a similar thread in the scam section for reference

I think moving it to scam section is OK rather than creating another thread for this. Or what do you think?  

[Coyster]

It is scary to see that over 3800 people joined them...

I'm so sure more than half that number were added without their consent, this groups just go ahead and add tons of people to their telegram channel, when they have more members in the group, the chances of someone falling for it becomes higher and also most newbies believe groups with high members are legit, that's another benefit of doing this for this scammers.

Settings > Privacy and Security > Groups > Who can invite you > My Contacts.

But this simple trick shared by @rosezionjohn would permanently ensure that users do not get added to these scam telegram groups.

I submitted my ETH address and wrong email address and everything

It's a good thing you were smart enough to submit a wrong email address to them, this scammers also make use of this multiple emails they receive to try their scam through email messages.
I'll report them as well.

[cryptoaddictchie]

Many telegram channels are often like this mate. Thank for bustung one of the scam group giveaway. Better reported this on telegram support. You can refer to this link on how to file a scam report for channel, group or someone on telegram so they can take action on this.

For, OP can also move this topic on scam accusation board but i think you create a new post there citing this thread can help for reference. It's also good to have this topic on this for some reminder here for newbies so they can avoid such scam activity such as this.

[BitcoinsGreat]

Thanks for reporting this.
Telegram is full of this scam channels.
It is scary to see that over 3800 people joined them...

A few months ago i was added in similar sort of telegram channel which was run by the name of Binance. And they were also giving a similar giveaway. Perhaps the same team started another channel.
The worse thing about these channels are that there are many members in them which make them look legal channels while they are not.

[hugeblack]

I don't think there are people who still trust ("send 0.5 ETH to receive 5 ETH instantly”) You will be an idiot if you trust such profits.
Avoid joining Telegram groups, many of which are scams and do not believe anyone who gives you money for free.
Always remember to follow the official links of the platforms and avoid others.

[Harlot]

Basically any crypto related channel you join you will still have these kinds of scam from the app if its not coming from the channel itself then the ones part of the group will be the ones trying to scam you. It's because its easy to create an account you can create several dozens of it so that even if they block or report the scammer they will still have other backup accounts to still continue on posting the scam they have.  And if I mean all of the crypto channels you will see in TG I mean everything even the ones who analyze charts, sharing news, or even ICO channels you will see a lot of these posts about giveaways and investments that it's really hard for any newbies to avoid, TG isn't really for everyon especially the ones unaware of such scams happening in it.

[YinShuiSiYuan]

A similar scam was recently made on behalf of Coinbase - of course Coinbase had nothing to do with it.
If you hear to pay anything in advance to receive the reward later, this is a 100% scam. Stay away from such groups, and the best if you confirm the official channels directly on the service website, or ANN thread on Bitcointalk.

[Bttzed03]

I don't think there are people who still trust ("send 0.5 ETH to receive 5 ETH instantly”) You will be an idiot if you trust such profits.

There are always new people coming into the crypto space and they are the targets of these scammers. Many of these newbies do not read warnings like the OP also.

It might come as a surprise to you but there are still people who are falling to fake telegram admins.

[d3nz]

This is already happening last of year 2017 and i already invited for many times and check their scheme and it is pretty obvious a scam and that is why you need to be aware that this people are targetting new projects to make a spam of post to join their channel.

And obviously you wilk see that this is a scam by checking the website address. Just be cautios and don't talk to strangers in telegram and depening on the channel you have joined if its legit or not.

[Krislaw]

 Many of these newbies do not read warnings like the OP also.

It really amazes me how you decided to jump into conclusion that I do not read warnings or you're just trying to complete your daily task probably because you don't read the whole thread or you read fast.
I made an awareness post immediately I discovered the shady things going on in the telegram channel and all you could do is to label me that I don't read warnings.
I guess I have to lock this thread.

It might come as a surprise to you but there are still people who are falling to fake telegram admins.

And am I wrong for posting this or have you helped by posting something similar to this?

[Lanatsa]

This kind of scheme or modus is already been here for a while and I have seen these kind of scamming which mostly target out those noobs
who doesn't even care on making up some research as long they do believe that they can make easy money.

One of the major rules of this market
"If you do need to pay something to earn something in return then its 100% scam".

[Beparanf]

This kind of scheme or modus is already been here for a while and I have seen these kind of scamming which mostly target out those noobs
who doesn't even care on making up some research as long they do believe that they can make easy money.

One of the major rules of this market
"If you do need to pay something to earn something in return then its 100% scam".

All offers that are too good to be true should be done research and think of it's factors why their doing it. I don't use telegram often been blocking ways to add me in telegram groups since before you'll be added in any group without your permission and when you do ask questions for example in a group, many random message you can receive from unknown telegram users. Telegram should not be used for dealing unless you know them from this forum.

[lobat999]

~snip~

This could be helpful to new users of Telegram and helping them getting more aware is inspiring. I understand these types of scam techniques occurs regularly in the Telegram platform that users have get used to it and consequently ignore it!

So the best thing to do is always ignore them always! Reminds me of the saying "curiosity killed the cat".