Be Alert to Fake Blue Ticks on Telegram! A New Trick for Scammers Impersonating Financial Institutions

An icon almost identical to Telegram’s verification badges has become yet another trick used by scammers to deceive potential victims in investment scams. The icon may look like a verified Telegram account, with a white tick inserted into a blue star - a badge that the messaging platform uses to identify official sources.

In January, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and the country's sovereign wealth fund, GIC, were impersonated in Telegram "investment" groups with hundreds of members.

At least seven such groups have been identified, the largest of which has more than 1,700 members.

A group administrator posing as Loh Boon Chye, the chief executive officer of SGX, used a customized emoji that mimicked the verification badge of Telegram. Telegram only gives a blue checkmark to large active official channels, groups, and bots, and it requires users to pay a fee to display the emoji next to their name.

Investigations have shown that scammers posing as representatives from the affected financial institutions would peddle lucrative investment programs that allegedly yield profits in a matter of hours.

Others in these groups reinforce the ruse by claiming that they have withdrawn profits and providing screenshots of these transactions as proof.

(Source: The Straits Times)