A United Nations report reveals that organized crime syndicates in Southeast Asia are increasingly leveraging the messaging app Telegram for various illegal activities.Â
This trend significantly alters the organized crime landscape, raising concerns among global authorities.
The report comes in the wake of legal troubles for Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, who faced charges in France for allegedly allowing criminal activities on the platform under a newly enacted law.
 The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) noted that hacked personal information, including credit card data and passwords, is openly traded on Telegram, where many channels operate with little oversight.
Additionally, the report identifies a wide array of cybercrime tools, such as deepfake software and data-stealing malware, readily accessible to users. Unregulated cryptocurrency exchanges have also emerged as facilitators for money laundering operations.
 One advertisement noted the movement of substantial amounts of stolen digital currency, highlighting the extensive scale of these illicit transactions.
 UNODC officials have confirmed significant evidence indicating that underground data markets are increasingly migrating to Telegram, with criminals targeting transnational syndicates in the area.
Southeast Asia has become a central hub for a multibillion-dollar fraud industry, often linked to Chinese crime syndicates, which reportedly generates annual revenues between $27.4 billion and $36.5 billion.
Durov’s recent arrest in Paris for facilitating crime on Telegram has sparked discussions regarding the accountability of app providers in preventing such activities.
Following his arrest, he committed to cooperating with law enforcement by providing user information and eliminating features that could be misused for illegal purposes.
Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC’s deputy representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, highlighted the increasing accessibility of Telegram for criminal enterprises, warning that consumer data is now more susceptible to scams and other malicious uses.
 The report further reveals that criminal groups are evolving their operations, integrating advanced technologies like malware and generative artificial intelligence into their tactics.
Moreover, UNODC has identified at least ten deepfake software providers catering to criminal networks involved in cyber fraud in the region.
Authorities in South Korea are also investigating Telegram for its alleged involvement in online sex crimes, particularly concerning deepfake pornography.
Additionally, a significant data breach involving the Indian insurer Star Health was attributed to a hacker utilizing Telegram chatbots, resulting in legal action against the platform.
 The breach exposed sensitive information such as names, phone numbers, addresses, and medical diagnoses, underscoring the potential risks associated with data security on Telegram.
