The report follows legal charges against Telegram’s founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, in France, where he is accused of enabling criminal activity on the platform. The process is being conducted under a groundbreaking law with no international precedent.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned that underground data markets are migrating to Telegram, with vendors actively seeking to collaborate with transnational organized crime groups based in Southeast Asia.
UNODC Deputy Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Benedikt Hofmann, stressed the app's appeal to criminals, explaining that “for consumers, this means their data is at a higher risk of being fed into scams or other criminal activity than ever before.”
The report also highlights Southeast Asia’s growing role as a major hub for a multibillion-dollar industry driven by global fraud schemes.
Many of these operations are run by Chinese syndicates from heavily fortified compounds staffed by trafficked workers. The UNODC estimates that these fraudulent enterprises generate between $27.4 billion and $36.5 billion annually.
Criminal groups are leveraging new technologies, including deepfake software—AI-generated images, videos, or audio that may depict real or fabricated individuals—and data-stealing malware, to bolster their operations.
In South Korea, authorities are investigating Telegram’s involvement in facilitating online sex crimes, particularly through deepfake pornography.
In another case, a hacker used Telegram chatbots to leak sensitive data from India’s largest health insurer, Star Health, prompting the company to take legal action.
The UNODC report therefore calls for stronger regulatory frameworks and enhanced cooperation between governments and tech companies to curb the growing misuse of encrypted messaging apps like Telegram by criminal syndicates.