AI scam on Telegram

[_act_]

When this year began, I read that AI scam has been on the rise. I did not bring it to this forum, but these type of scam keeps coming back to me to read more about, so I decided to bring it up today for us to discuss about this scam.

This is what I get about AI scam from AI:

In 2025, artificial intelligence has become the primary driver of a "pandemic-like" surge in fraud, with over 50% of fraudulent incidents involving AI-powered, hyper-realistic deceptions. Scammers are utilizing Generative AI (GenAI) to automate, personalize, and scale social engineering attacks, resulting in billions of dollars in losses.

The leading AI-driven scams of 2025 are characterized by the following, highly sophisticated tactics:

1. Deepfake Voice Cloning and Video Impersonation
2. AI-Powered "VibeScams" and Phishing
3. Agentic AI and Automated Romance Scams
4. Synthetic Identity Fraud
 5. AI-Driven Job/Task Scams

Here is an example of AI scam of someone that that was scammed recently through Telegram: https://x.com/i/status/2014268846094311739

🚨Urgent Security Warning: Sophisticated Phishing Attack on Crypto Community‼️

A high-level hacking campaign is currently targeting Bitcoin and crypto users. I have been personally affected via a compromised Telegram account.

The Attack Vector:
- Attackers initiate a Zoom or Teams call
- Uses Deep Fake AI video to look like your friend
- They claim audio issues and instruct you to install a specific plugin to fix the sound.
- This plugin provides full access to your system, leading to the theft of all possible bitcoin holdings & Telegram accounts, which are then used to propagate the attack further.

Immediate Action Required:
- Ignore all Telegram or social media invitations for Zoom/Teams calls.
- Verify all communications. Treat all Telegram messages as untrusted, even from known contacts.

One thing about hackers is that they look for a way to install a malware on your device, but you are the one that will unknowingly install the malware just like how the person that posted on X was affected. Do not download anything from a source you do not trust.

Such malware can be used to compromise bitcoin and other crypto wallets.

[Lakai01]

[...]
One thing about hackers is that they look for a way to install a malware on your device, but you are the one that will unknowingly install the malware just like how the person that posted on X was affected. Do not download anything from a source you do not trust.

This is definitely an interesting use case for AI and deepfakes, although I can't quite imagine how the scammers get hold of information about what my friends look like and can also compare this information with those contacts who use Telegram/X.
But technically, it's definitely possible, yes. There are more than enough cases here where prominent people have fallen for such fake calls, including Lagarde, for example.

In the age of AI and the opportunities these technologies offer attackers, your closing sentence is particularly noteworthy: simply do not install anything from unknown sources.

Of course, this is made more difficult by the fact that the whole thing is recommended by a “friend,” and you are much more likely to agree and ask fewer questions.

[coinlary]

although I can't quite imagine how the scammers get hold of information about what my friends look like and can also compare this information with those contacts who use Telegram/X.

Poss  on internet, Facebook and  other social medias..
#chilling with my buddy , #bestie, #friends  # family ,# at work and so on
They can monitor  a profile to see who he gets  interaction from the most and figure out a  way to lunch an attack , doesn't  necessarily have to be a friend, it could be family, work mate , boss e.t.c

[348Judah]

If you're a telegram user, its time to be more careful about scam like this, because they have been using the platform for related activities which calls for more attention, also, this goes o he category of those that cannot do without the use of social media in flaunting about what hey have or worth, a time is coming whereby no one will have to advise them any longer after they must have learnt the hard way.

[sleepfirefly]

Here is an example of AI scam of someone that that was scammed recently through Telegram: https://x.com/i/status/2014268846094311739

🚨Urgent Security Warning: Sophisticated Phishing Attack on Crypto Community‼️

A high-level hacking campaign is currently targeting Bitcoin and crypto users. I have been personally affected via a compromised Telegram account.

The Attack Vector:
- Attackers initiate a Zoom or Teams call
- Uses Deep Fake AI video to look like your friend
- They claim audio issues and instruct you to install a specific plugin to fix the sound.
- This plugin provides full access to your system, leading to the theft of all possible bitcoin holdings & Telegram accounts, which are then used to propagate the attack further.

Immediate Action Required:
- Ignore all Telegram or social media invitations for Zoom/Teams calls.
- Verify all communications. Treat all Telegram messages as untrusted, even from known contacts.

One thing about hackers is that they look for a way to install a malware on your device, but you are the one that will unknowingly install the malware just like how the person that posted on X was affected. Do not download anything from a source you do not trust.

Such malware can be used to compromise bitcoin and other crypto wallets.

telegram really is known for being full of scammers i don’t even know how scammers are able to message me in telegram but i have learned to ignore them anyway just don’t open messages from people you don’t know

usually they’ll send attractive messages like maybe a job offer or a prize or sometimes they even pretend to be a lover

[Mahiyammahi]

Damn that's scary. Who would have thought even zoom meeting, 1by 1 video calls are getting replaced by AI. What amazes me that the more day's are passing Identifying AI and human is getting tougher day by day. Now crimes can be done and hidden both can be done by AI.

I love the advance technology, but same time the way it's advancing it's sacry . Ig we need AI police in future to deal these

[Bitcoin_Budha]

Damn that's scary. Who would have thought even zoom meeting, 1by 1 video calls are getting replaced by AI. What amazes me that the more day's are passing Identifying AI and human is getting tougher day by day. Now crimes can be done and hidden both can be done by AI.

I love the advance technology, but same time the way it's advancing it's sacry . Ig we need AI police in future to deal these

AI is called future with this now many new features and things are going to be entered in real life which will hurt badly and increase problems for the peoples those are having enough online stuff always needs to keep things strictly on checking.
Social media and telegram already scammers heaven which are creating problems for newbies, and they are losing their hard-earned money quickly as mentioned many new things will be appeared because scammers are well aware about many points how they can engage newbies and have their money.

I was too much involved in social media but now due to few problematic things now limiting myself and also avoiding any link or person who is having things which can engage me for sharing personal stuff.

[Z-tight]

While it is true that scammers are using AI to make their 'job' easier and more realistic, but i still believe it is not so difficult to avoid being a victim of anyone of this attack. You simply have to be smart and do not be greedy. Scammers have preyed on a lot of people's greed and used deepfake to impersonate rich and popular people to perpetrate a giveaway or money doubling scam.

Take note too that this is not just about Telegram, i know how popular it is for scammers. However, it also happens all over social media, even on Whatsapp.

[uchegod-21]

While it is true that scammers are using AI to make their 'job' easier and more realistic, but i still believe it is not so difficult to avoid being a victim of anyone of this attack. You simply have to be smart and do not be greedy. Scammers have preyed on a lot of people's greed and used deepfake to impersonate rich and popular people to perpetrate a giveaway or money doubling scam.

Take note too that this is not just about Telegram, i know how popular it is for scammers. However, it also happens all over social media, even on Whatsapp.

Before now, anytime we see a scam victim, we just assume that the victim was greedy,  that's why he fell for the scam. Now, it is no longer about greed. Yea I know there are still greedy victims but hackers and scammers are becoming more sophisticated with the help of AI. They can clone voices and use faces of a person dear to you, demanding for a very simple task you would naturally do for your dear person without thinking twice. The moment you see your wallet all wiped, you begin to wonder how it happened.

While we advice people strongly against greed, they must be smart always too. Since I got to know that scammers can impersonate your loved one to send unsolicited messages, I started going extra miles to verify if it's really my loved ones I'm chatting or speaking with whenever they reach out for some help I consider sensitive. We must outsmart these scammers and not let them win all the time.

[L E G E N D A R Y]

At some point I almost wanted to believe that some of not most of these AI tools were actually developed by these scammers because it opened their minds to a whole new world of possibilities and kinda made their schemes more believable, or maybe they were just fortunate enough to find themselves in the right place at the right time, because I don’t get it. Living in a while where cloning not just someone’s identity, but his voice, his face and every other thing about a person seems like a major groundbreaking innovation for impersonators. But I know it’s only for a time though, people are already getting wiser now, being fully aware of the potentials of AI techs.




The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.
—Winston Churchill

[Callido]

If you're a telegram user, its time to be more careful about scam like this, because they have been using the platform for related activities which calls for more attention, also, this goes o he category of those that cannot do without the use of social media in flaunting about what hey have or worth, a time is coming whereby no one will have to advise them any longer after they must have learnt the hard way.

I don't know how this can be difficult to follow, don't engage in financial discussions with strangers, always use old details to confirm true self of the person you've been talking with, this will help protect in case of impersonation. It's always about the basics, clearly point out to them you don't want to invest with strangers, you don't need help with any financial transaction or ideas. Better if you don't respond, giving them the audience to explain can work to manipulate you.

[BitMaxz]

This is definitely an interesting use case for AI and deepfakes, although I can't quite imagine how the scammers get hold of information about what my friends look like and can also compare this information with those contacts who use Telegram/X.
But technically, it's definitely possible, yes. There are more than enough cases here where prominent people have fallen for such fake calls, including Lagarde, for example.

In the age of AI and the opportunities these technologies offer attackers, your closing sentence is particularly noteworthy: simply do not install anything from unknown sources.

Of course, this is made more difficult by the fact that the whole thing is recommended by a “friend,” and you are much more likely to agree and ask fewer questions.

AI and deepfakes already existed since 2020, or during the pandemic. We talk about this on other forums: how to use those deepfakes and AI on OnlyFans. Someone from the other forum can make a live stream look like a real person driven by AI without showing his/her real face.
So I think this is a pretty common attack nowadays. We should be aware of this and avoid any links provided by anyone, even your friends or family, because they can use your friends under your friend list to talk to us who look like our friend.
Scammers are getting smarter nowadays. That's why we should always be careful to any links we click or better learn how to disable the silent install app via regedit in your PC for Windows users.

[Kavelj22]

although I can't quite imagine how the scammers get hold of information about what my friends look like and can also compare this information with those contacts who use Telegram/X.

Poss  on internet, Facebook and  other social medias..
#chilling with my buddy , #bestie, #friends  # family ,# at work and so on
They can monitor  a profile to see who he gets  interaction from the most and figure out a  way to lunch an attack , doesn't  necessarily have to be a friend, it could be family, work mate , boss e.t.c

I don't think this is enough to know who is your friend you trusted the most to go into a Zoom call or whatever app that you weren't used before. The case quoted from X platform (ex-Twitter) said that the victim was naive to believe that it's really his friend who invites him to Zoom unless they are used to contact via Zoom. But what about inviting him to install a plugin or a software? Did he used to accept invitations from his friends to install apps without to verify the source? The victim in this case invited the hacker to steal his sensitive data because of over self-confidence or indifference that this might not happen with a friend. Even if I am 100% confident that I am talking with

[Salahmu]

I have long stopped accepting calls I don't no on telegram because I have already suspected this voice cloning by scammers and immediately someone pick such call and say something they might capture the voice and began to use it as if is the person. How would someone even go on zoom without knowing those they are having the zoom with, this type of scamming can easily be detected, for example I saw a zoom call I wasn't expecting I will just ignore it even if it was my friend because there are several ways we can contact each other rather than zoom that should been for special business purposes.

[Y3shot]

If you're a telegram user, its time to be more careful about scam like this, because they have been using the platform for related activities which calls for more attention, also, this goes o he category of those that cannot do without the use of social media in flaunting about what hey have or worth, a time is coming whereby no one will have to advise them any longer after they must have learnt the hard way.

I telegram is one of the social media that the rise of scam is really increasing, obe needs to be aware of scam going on in this social media and to be very careful about it. In telegram people are impersonating,  scammers are trying to make their grop or telegram channel as one of the legit ones we have. In social media like this ot is just better to treat everyone as a suspect of scam because with this you dont have to believe on anybody, this will serve as an awareness to be conscious.

[Cookdata]

While it is true that scammers are using AI to make their 'job' easier and more realistic, but i still believe it is not so difficult to avoid being a victim of anyone of this attack. You simply have to be smart and do not be greedy. Scammers have preyed on a lot of people's greed and used deepfake to impersonate rich and popular people to perpetrate a giveaway or money doubling scam.

Take note too that this is not just about Telegram, i know how popular it is for scammers. However, it also happens all over social media, even on Whatsapp.

There is one particular thread that was about one particular AI, if you see the video call and how it deep fake another user image, too real to be noticed and this is done by AI. I fear is such application or software get into the hands of scammers, a lot of people are going to lose all they had.

Imagine Elon Musk been the richest man video call a random person that is looking for ways to make money and suddenly impersonator Elon Musk said "send me $2000, I'm stranded and I will send back $1m when I get to my office", plenty of people are falling for this simple scam. It's one of the oldest scam but it's been upgraded by scammer to things that are trending.

Atimes, it's not about been smart, there is a place in their mind that is telling themhag that this scams are obvious but they wouldn't believe, their greed overcrowd their judgement even with the warning coming from their head.

[promise444c5]

While it is true that scammers are using AI to make their 'job' easier and more realistic, but i still believe it is not so difficult to avoid being a victim of anyone of this attack. You simply have to be smart and do not be greedy. Scammers have preyed on a lot of people's greed and used deepfake to impersonate rich and popular people to perpetrate a giveaway or money doubling scam.

Take note too that this is not just about Telegram, i know how popular it is for scammers. However, it also happens all over social media, even on Whatsapp.

They have many ways of reaching their targets.. Apart from doing it randomly, they can also research you extensively before taking any further steps.

There are even reports of fake job interviews like this one https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5558416.0.
This has become quite common recently..They contact developers for job then during interview they will ask them to download a private repository from their org , which then compromises their device. This is one of their tactics that involves malware.  They may also stage fake interviews purely to carry out social engineering.

[livingfree]

The scams now are upgrading because of AI.

We should be knowledgeable on how to spot one because if we don't, we'll fall for that.

That is why I am no longer answering phone calls without receiving a text message first even they're my immediate family and close friends.

It assures me that I am talking to the real people that I know and not some AIs that's just designed to call people.

[coinlary]

I don't think this is enough to know who is your friend you trusted the most to go into a Zoom call or whatever app that you weren't used before.

Check the internet , you will be surprised how much information people drop about themselves every single day.

The case quoted from X platform (ex-Twitter) said that the victim was naive to believe that it's really his friend who invites him to Zoom unless they are used to contact via Zoom.
But what about inviting him to install a plugin or a software? Did he used to accept invitations from his friends to install apps without to verify the source? The victim in this case invited the hacker to steal his sensitive data because of over self-confidence or indifference that this might not happen with a friend. Even if I am 100% confident that I am talking with

Not concerned how the story went, good it didn't left damage, I was only replying to the question "how?"
And yeah, they don't have to be sure it really the closest friend, anyone can be a close friend, they are not your   families to precisely know so much about you, so there's possible assumptions but for them to have contact through such friend then they must have gotten some infos while running BC.

[Taskford]

While it is true that scammers are using AI to make their 'job' easier and more realistic, but i still believe it is not so difficult to avoid being a victim of anyone of this attack. You simply have to be smart and do not be greedy. Scammers have preyed on a lot of people's greed and used deepfake to impersonate rich and popular people to perpetrate a giveaway or money doubling scam.

Take note too that this is not just about Telegram, i know how popular it is for scammers. However, it also happens all over social media, even on Whatsapp.

They have many ways of reaching their targets.. Apart from doing it randomly, they can also research you extensively before taking any further steps.

There are even reports of fake job interviews like this one https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5558416.0.
This has become quite common recently..They contact developers for job then during interview they will ask them to download a private repository from their org , which then compromises their device. This is one of their tactics that involves malware.  They may also stage fake interviews purely to carry out social engineering.

Scammers became more wiser and been updated with tech now, that's why we also need to upgrade our learnings so we can avoid those potential AI scams.

By the way this is notable Ai scam happened before https://incode.com/blog/top-5-cases-of-ai-deepfake-fraud-from-2024-exposed/ which it cause huge to lots of people on that year.

Internet is so dangerous now and all of those you mentioned, including that fake job interview is there and this will provably continue to be used by those criminals online. So its good that we are also or maybe those people close to us are also aware of this so they can avoid this type of scam and will not get interest to accept random online offers.