New Telegram “hijacking” scheme: scammers pretend to be a support service and “save” your account from deletion

by alex

Third parties cannot request account deletion on Telegram

Experts from the F.A.C.C.T. Cybersecurity Center (formerly Group-IB in Russia) discovered a new scheme that scammers began to actively use to gain access to the Telegram accounts of their victims. Users of the messenger began receiving messages from the fake Telegram support service that a request had been submitted to delete their account. Since the victim herself did not ask to delete the account, she is asked to follow a link to cancel the procedure.

On a website with a messenger interface, the user enters a phone number and security code. If you provide incorrect information, the page will report an error. 

Новая схема «угона» Telegram: мошенники притворяются службой поддержки и «спасают» аккаунт от удаления

As a result, scammers take over control of the account and gain access to correspondence and channel management if the victim was an administrator or owner. Since attackers distribute links in private messages, they don't need many phishing pages. One active resource and a backup domain in case the previous one is blocked is enough.

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As emphasized in the F.A.C.C.T., third parties cannot request the deletion of an account in Telegram — only the account owner can do this in the messenger settings. You can delete your own account immediately or by activating it automatically after a specified period of inactivity.

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