The UN claims that Telegram provides “underground markets” for criminal groups.

The story is the most recent accusation made against the contentious encrypted app since Pavel Durov, the company’s CEO, was accused by France for permitting illegal activities on the platform through the application of a strict new legislation that has no counterpart elsewhere.

According to a report published by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), hacked data, such as credit card numbers, passwords, and browser histories, are widely exchanged on the app’s many channels with little to no supervision.

According to the research, illegal cryptocurrency exchanges provide money laundering services, and tools used for cybercrime, including as data-stealing malware and so-called deepfake software intended for deception, are also routinely distributed.

According to one Chinese advertisement, “We move 3 million USDT stolen from overseas per day,” was stated in the study.

The research stated that there is “strong evidence of vendors actively looking to target transnational organized crime groups based in Southeast Asia and underground data markets moving to Telegram.”

Southeast Asia has become a major center for a multibillion dollar industry that uses fraudulent tactics to target victims worldwide. Numerous of them are Chinese syndicates run by people smuggled in for their labor, out of guarded compounds. According to UNODC, the industry brings in between $27.4 billion and $36.5 billion a year.

Durov, a Russian-born man, was accused of permitting illegal behavior on the platform, including the dissemination of child sex pictures, when he was detained in Paris in August. The action has raised awareness of the criminal responsibility of software developers and sparked discussion about the boundaries between legal enforcement and free expression.

A request for comment from Telegram, which has about one billion members, was not immediately answered.

Durov, who is presently free on bond after his detention, stated that the app will provide users’ phone numbers and IP addresses to law enforcement upon request. He added that certain functionalities of the program would no longer be exploited for illicit purposes.
The deputy representative of UNODC for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Benedikt Hofmann, said the app was an easily navigable environment for criminals.