Bitcoin used for illegal activities on telegram

[fiulpro]

https://news.bitcoin.com/a-system-of-robot-drug-dealers-on-telegram-allows-people-to-buy-illegal-products-for-bitcoin/

I came across this news which is unfortunate but inevitable, people use fiat, bank accounts , gold, anything which is worth any value to do illegal activities.

There’s a new avenue darknet market (DNM) customers have found that allows them to purchase illegal wares 24 hours a day via a robot drug dealer hosted on Telegram. The platform dubbed ‘Televend,’ is an automated software program that peddles illicit narcotics for people paying with bitcoin and during the last few months, the complex system has grown massively.

While many darknet markets have fallen to the wayside, a slew of new types of methods when it comes to selling illegal drugs online has risen. For instance, the world’s largest DNM in Russia, Hydra, leverages a complicated system of vendors who utilize drop zones. Additionally, a great number of DNM customers have used messenger applications like Facebook Messenger, Signal, Telegram, Whatsapp, and others to procure some drugs.

More recently, DNM users have been leveraging a new messenger route that utilizes a Telegram software program or bot called “Televend” to facilitate drug trades.

It’s not too hard to locate the relevant Televend links in order to catch a glimpse at this growing black market platform. According to the program’s learning channel, there are a number of obstacles one must complete before leveraging the Televend route. The channel’s pinned message also gives a brief description of what the bot does and how drug vendors can use the app.

“Televend is an auto-shop bot network for direct dealers, we administer the bots and vendors run them like private shops,” the channel’s message reads. “Customers can visit them and pay with bitcoin, track orders and payments, plus leave feedback and ratings. Vendors control the listings and configuration of their bot via a .onion Tor-based control panel so no Telegram account is needed to vend. At this control panel, they can add listings, process orders, answer messages, and other features.”

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But this time what's unfortunate is : Government will make this the fault of bitcoins and the people themselves, put up huge restrictions or might even think about issuing a ban.

People are now using social media and telegram to buy illegal things like : drugs , they are paying through Bitcoins.

If someone gets in contact with such agents , they should timely inform the authorities, make sure you don't engage with things like this. It is not only bad for the whole community but it's also attracting negative attention from the black markets.

Again , in some places onion is banned 🚫 but in many you can very easily use the dark web and even order weird and illegal stuff online.

What are your thoughts on this ??
How should we go about controlling this situation without hampering the freedom cryptocurrencies give users ??

( We already have so many restrictions )

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[Yaunfitda]

Governments around the world has been faulting bitcoin for many years now, yes it could be another black eye for crypto enthusiast, however, it seems that we are already immune to this kind of news that most of the time, it doesn't affect us. If this is recent, then I'm sure government agencies will try to find ways to caught this criminals, and for those criminals, they should know by now that bitcoin should not be the get to crypto, Drug dealers who relied on Bitcoin’s ‘anonymity’ get 30 years behind bars.

[Bitcoin_Arena]

I don't know why there is so much fuss when it comes to Bitcoin and it's usage for transactions all over the world. Authorities and Governments tend to use Bitcoin as sacrificial lamb but the bitter fact is that since time immemorial fiat currency has and is still widely being used for illegal activities such as money laundering, corruption, Human trafficking, drugs and financing terrorism but just because the can't control cryptocurrencies, all the blame is shifted to cryptos anyway. Whatever is done using bitcoin is just the tip of the iceberg.

Lately I care less about such news. People who are open-minded and are ready to explore will know about the importance of cryptocurrencies while those who choose to be blindfolded by Governments and media will miss out on the benefits.

[coupable]

In bitcoin early age, illegal stuff dealers help bitcoin to get more users arround the globe, we can't deny this fact. However, the bitcoin itself, like any other exchangeble asset, wasn't made for this purpose. Drug dealers and other bad guys also use fiat money since ever, should we accuse everybody who use fiat to be a part of an illegal activity? Same logic with Telegram, it's a communication tool that can be used for good and for bad. So if we just shut it down or take control over it, dealers will find more ways.

[Kemarit]

Not really news though, maybe they find ways to take advantage of telegram for their illicit activities but that's it. And then the cat and mouse game continues, law enforcement vs criminals, Bitcoin is only collateral damage here, but nothing of significant, IMHO.

And as far as I can remember, not just drug related illegal activities, but there are another set of criminals plying telegram way back, - those scammers. There are lots of ring of botnets, so it's time for telegram to step up their game together with law enforcement to stop them from using their platform.

[Darker45]

Not really news though, maybe they find ways to take advantage of telegram for their illicit activities but that's it. And then the cat and mouse game continues, law enforcement vs criminals, Bitcoin is only collateral damage here, but nothing of significant, IMHO.

And as far as I can remember, not just drug related illegal activities, but there are another set of criminals plying telegram way back, - those scammers. There are lots of ring of botnets, so it's time for telegram to step up their game together with law enforcement to stop them from using their platform.

That's it. Needless to say, the criminals will always look for a way to do their things as hidden as possible. The techy ones will make use of the latest of technologies. Of course, to expand the market and to avoid getting caught. The law enforcers on the other hand will have to keep up because that's what they do, to run after them. Otherwise, they will be left behind by these law breakers. But they cannot just burn every house along the way.

Bitcoin and Telegram are just two of the latest technologies which are intended for more noble things. However, there will always be unintended consequences. The criminals seeing that Bitcoin and Telegram are two better technologies to do their business with would embrace it as well. But that does not mean these two are the problems.

[LogitechMouse]

Not really news though, maybe they find ways to take advantage of telegram for their illicit activities but that's it. And then the cat and mouse game continues, law enforcement vs criminals, Bitcoin is only collateral damage here, but nothing of significant, IMHO.

And as far as I can remember, not just drug related illegal activities, but there are another set of criminals plying telegram way back, - those scammers. There are lots of ring of botnets, so it's time for telegram to step up their game together with law enforcement to stop them from using their platform.

That is why when I saw the subject title, I already said to myself "This is already an old thing. People already are using Telegram for illegal activities since you can keep anonymous on the platform".

All of the illegal activities might be done in Telegram and there is nothing the government can do about it. How they can trace it? Using the addresses that has been used in transaction yes but that too will take time to trace. The criminals are just utilizing the features of Telegram and the owner of telegram must do something about this but I doubt that they will do something. Scams have been done in Telegram for years already and we don't see any solution to it coming from the owner. Best solution for this is to remove Telegram as a whole.

[GreatArkansas]

(.......)
Bitcoin and Telegram are just two of the latest technologies which are intended for more noble things. However, there will always be unintended consequences. The criminals seeing that Bitcoin and Telegram are two better technologies to do their business with would embrace it as well. But that does not mean these two are the problems.

Telegram is one of the examples, I know there are also some messaging application just like Telegram, got some encryption for privacy.
Criminals are all over the internet now, even in some non-encrypted platform, messaging or some social media, they are still there. It will be their choice on how they will easily get tracked and caught.
If they also using Bitcoin, that's kinda a more safe for them but what the really problem is on the mind of other people, once they heard that a person uses Bitcoin for illegal activities, it means Bitcoin is illegal too.

[TGD]

As you've said. Any currency or precious can be used to buy this stuff, it just happened that  BTC are very convenient to use as mode of payment online to buy this stuff and this not new. The used of BTC is not alarming but rather those illegal stuff that can be easily access via telegram is very alarming. Minors or a simple user of telegram can buy this stuff easily if they want and this is the real problem.

Just report it to telegram moderator or send the link here so that we can help to report and take down that shit.

[tranthidung]

Cryptocurrency, includes bitcoin are not created for illegal activities. Only people who always want to do illegal activities will try to find tools to make their intention and plans become true. Cryptocurrency or bitcoin, in particular are one of tools that such guys try to use. They abuse bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

Bewoke! The news is released by bitcoin.com that is not the legit site of bitcoin. In fact, the site is owned by Roger Ver, who tried to support Bitcoin Cash and convinced people believe Bitcoin Cash is the real Bitcoin back in 2017. So far, Roger Ver failed with his attempts.

I see that news as another effort of Roger Ver to attack Bitcoin. You can forget it!  Don't believe in Ver, I meant.

[finaleshot2016]

It's not a new thing, cryptocurrency is just an asset and some huge criminal activities are also using fiat in the transaction. So it's not because of the cryptocurrency, it's because there are people who like doing bad things and they just used the features of crypto to their escape. Anything can be used in criminal activities, the advancement of technology isn't the fault that there are many criminals. Even at medical technology, many are using it for their own good instead of using it for developing the health care system. The technology isn't the fault, it's the human's fault that for a criminal mindset, using it for their own good.

[maydna]

The telegram has been used for illegal activity because many crypto projects have been ending with the scam of the people at telegram. I am not surprised by that news because people can invite other people easily. People can automatically join their channel so that the scammers can offer a nice offering to people who don't know much about crypto.

I think the reason why the scammer use telegram as their way to scam people is because they don't have to use their real telephone number to register their account in the telegram. They can use the disposable number which they can find on the internet, and they can easily have a new telegram account. We can only be careful if we receive a message from people we don't know.

[Wexnident]

Well, when they have nothing to blame but their incompetency, they have to find fault at something else that could make them seem not at fault, and Bitcoin seems like a juicy bit of thing to place the blame to, especially with the amount of ignorance people has about it. Still, not really a new thing, even if they do this, sooner or later people would know that Bitcoin is clearly not at fault, like it's a currency, a medium, people aren't that ignorant to actually not notice that.

We do nothing tbh, this kind of thing is actually unavoidable, especially with how the system of Bitcoin is set up. Only thing we can do is as you said, report any suspicious groups that deal with illegal stuff, using Bitcoin or not. It's actually an action supposed to be done in general, not just for the protection of the crypto scene.

[Lorence.xD]

The telegram has been used for illegal activity because many crypto projects have been ending with the scam of the people at telegram. I am not surprised by that news because people can invite other people easily. People can automatically join their channel so that the scammers can offer a nice offering to people who don't know much about crypto.

I think the reason why the scammer use telegram as their way to scam people is because they don't have to use their real telephone number to register their account in the telegram. They can use the disposable number which they can find on the internet, and they can easily have a new telegram account. We can only be careful if we receive a message from people we don't know.

Pretty crazy thing that Telegram does not do anything about this prevalence in scam. If I were the owner of Telegram and all that is associated with my application is that it is a cesspool of scam, it would spur me into a campaign in preventing the proliferation of scams and eventually annihilation of this scams in my platform. I do not have that much legal knowledge but I think they can be prosecuted for being negligent when it comes to scams on the platform.

[Parking_Meater]

vice even did an article about it.

[maxreish]

They're using any possible ways to transact their products with instant payments through the use of digital apps like telegram andmake it into a bot so the buyer will easily buy and purchase drugs easily. Since digital payments is also a convenient way to use, bitcoin or crypto payments is their first choice. Government will definitely see this again as unfavor to bitcoin.

Eventually, even bitcoin wasn't made by this illegal purposes but criminals, fraudsters, black market users will definitely use this to mask the transaction's identity  or to take advantage of the anonymous and conveniency of btc.

[3meek]

Nothing has changed since Silk Road, and bitcoin is still the number 1 payment means for trading in illegal goods!

Personally, I do not see anything wrong with it, I am sure that bitcoin will be fine!

[lovesmayfamilis]

 Telegram was already banned in Russia. People were using VPN. Some time ago it was allowed. But it doesn't solve the problem. All messengers are easily interchangeable. Such as Jabber (OMEMO) and others.

I read the entire article.
This is a whole country of drug addicts under the name "Televend" . With their reviews, reputation, and "merits". And what surprised me is that everything works on trust. "Kind and honest" people?
They competently educate process their clients. Bitcoin only plays an additional role here. While this selling option works for them if it stops they will likely find other ways and means.

There is no need to blame bitcoin for various cases of fraud, but you need to look for the root cause and specifically deal with the fight against drug dealers. Because they are cancer. It is necessary to remove this tumor. All methods of fraud will evolve in the same way as technology, so it is wrong to blame all the means that criminals use. Even the Kalashnikov assault rifle was invented not for murder, but for protection. Likewise, bitcoin was not invented to serve criminals.

[davis196]

Telegram isn't the only place to find illegal stuff online.There are lots of Discord servers offering carding,money transfers,refunding services and other illegal products(most of those vendor are usually scammers,who aren't delivering the illegal stuff they are selling.They just want to some quick BTC,by scamming naive people..The Discord team is doing a great job by banning such servers,but they continue to popup.
I don't think that anyone could blame Bitcoin such activities.The process of selling and buying illegal products and services would exist,even if Bitcoin wasn't created.

[Simakura]

We cannot blame bitcoin for that, something that is illegal by people using bitcoin. real money can be forgiven that way that it depends on the use of each for the positive or the negative