Suspicious chatbots are surfacing on Telegram, promoting the purchase of voices used to seed narratives in channels that scammers may be concealing behind. A senior analyst from the Digital Risk Protection division of a major security firm explained to a research outlet, Evgeny Egorov, regarding this emerging issue.
Last week, Telegram channels gained the ability to publish stories. Activation requires a threshold of “upgrades” or votes from subscribers who hold premium accounts. Shortly after that, bots began appearing in the messenger, offering bulk purchases of “support” credits for these channels.
“Users are not asked to provide their bank card for the purchase; instead, they are guided to transfer money. The buyer hands over funds without any guarantee that an upgrade will be delivered or that the money will not be lost. The bot, however, lacks a feedback form and any visible contacts. Very often, fake sources follow this exact pattern”, the expert noted.
On average, the price for such bot-generated voices ranges from about 180 to 190 rubles per item.
Historically, concerns about WhatsApp blocking contributed to a cautious approach toward launching channels on Telegram within Russia.