Revolut Just Called Out Telegram by Name
Revolut’s analysis of 10 billion transactions shows encrypted platforms becoming criminal havens. Meta still leads at 44%, but Telegram grew from 15% to 20% of all fraud in one year.
Revolut released its Consumer Security and Financial Crime Report revealing Telegram fraud surged 233% in 2025, with the platform now accounting for 20% of all Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud globally.
Meta platforms still dominate at 44% of all scams (down from 58% in 2024), but Telegram’s share grew by 30% year-over-year. The shift isn’t Meta improving, it’s criminals diversifying.
Job scams more than doubled globally, jumping from 18% to 22% of all fraud. Telegram alone accounts for 58% of all job scams worldwide, up from 50% in 2024.
In Spain, Telegram became the single largest scam source in 2025, accounting for 22% of all reported cases. In Western Europe overall, Telegram is the leading platform in 23% of countries—one in three scams in Italy (34%) and Latvia (31%) originated there.
The pattern: offer easy jobs, high income, work from home. Then demand upfront fees for “training,” “equipment,” or “administrative costs.” Victim pays. Job never existed.
Criminals exploit Telegram’s private and encrypted nature to scale operations rapidly, operating out of sight where tracking is much more difficult. WhatsApp and Telegram together account for 60% of investment scams and 79% of all job scams.
Telegram: “Our encryption protects your privacy!”
Scammers: “Yes, it protects OUR privacy while we steal your money. Thanks!”
Consumers: “Wait, what?”
If you’re job hunting:
Never pay upfront for “training,” “equipment,” or “application fees”
Verify companies through official websites, not links in Telegram messages
If contacted via Telegram about a job, assume it’s a scam until proven otherwise
Real employers don’t recruit through encrypted messaging apps
If you use Telegram:
Be especially suspicious of unsolicited job offers, investment opportunities, or purchase deals
Don’t trust that encryption means safety it just means criminals operate undetected
Report suspicious accounts and channels immediately
For platforms and regulators:
Revolut calls for mandatory legal requirements for online platforms to participate in data-sharing schemes or face enforcement action. Nearly one-third of Revolut’s workforce now works in financial crime prevention, banks can’t solve this alone.
Juniper Research found social media platforms earned £3.8 billion in revenue from fraudulent advertisements targeting European users in 2025. They’re profiting from scam ads.
Purchase scams remain the most prevalent at 57% of all fraud, but average losses from investment and impersonation scams are 12x higher than purchase scams.
The fraud landscape is fragmenting. Criminals no longer rely on a single platform—they adapt to audience and opportunity. TikTok saw a 6x increase in scam reports year-over-year, though volumes remain lower than Meta or Telegram.
Revolut reduced its fraud rate by 31% in 2025 and 60% since early 2024 through AI chatbots, biometric authentication, and location-based controls. But banks can only act once a scam is underway.
Telegram responded: “We reject the claim that a disproportionate amount of scams involve our platform. Our automated protections stop millions of scam campaigns before they begin”.
Yet 58% of all global job scams originated on Telegram in 2025.
The data doesn’t lie.
- Alex