Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has reported an alarming increase in fraudulent activity on Telegram. These activities primarily involve cybercriminals impersonating Binance employees to commit fraud, phishing attacks, or investment fraud.
Binance responded to this threat by publishing an article introducing common Telegram scams and providing tips on how to avoid falling victim to them.
Binance advises users to always carefully verify the information of their Telegram contacts. Relevant account details can be found on the person's profile page. Users should pay particular attention to the username field and should not rely on the information presented in the Bio section.
The bio field can be easily manipulated and allows anyone to falsely claim affiliation with official Binance channels. To deceive users, scammers often hide the username while displaying official-sounding information in the Bio field.
When checking account information, users should pay attention to every letter in the username, checking uppercase and lowercase letters as well as special characters. Some scammers use special character substitutions or change the case of letters to make their accounts look very similar to official accounts.
For example, a fraudulent account might use the letter L to spell “BlNANCE” instead of using the I for the correct spelling of “BINANCE”. These two symbols appear similar at first glance without careful examination.
*This is not investment advice.