On May 15, 2025, the Telegram messaging platform announced the blocking of two massive black market services, Supergroup and Black Market, which together facilitated over $120 billion in crypto-scam-related services, but has since remained inactive as these platforms have returned under new names. The fraud systems, primarily targeting Chinese users, involved more than 8.5 million users, including nearly 180,000 scammers offering services ranging from cryptocurrency manipulation to fake investment schemes and tools needed for fraudulent activities. According to a Telegram spokesperson, the two groups were the primary source of pig butchering scams, where criminals feign romantic or friendly relationships before gradually coaxing victims into fraudulent investments, stealing approximately $3.5 billion through this method in 2024 alone.
However, within just 72 hours after the ban, the markets reappeared under new names and on new servers, now called Supergroup Pro and BM+, offering essentially identical services to the same user base. Research by cybersecurity firm Digital Shadow Project revealed that 87% of original users rejoined the new groups within just two weeks, and by early June 2025, transaction volume had already reached 76% of previous levels. Telegram has not taken action against these rebranded markets, despite the platform's policies explicitly prohibiting the facilitation of fraud and financial crimes, while the company regularly emphasises its moderation efforts, reportedly spending $95 million on moderation in 2024 and employing 3,100 moderators across 30 languages.
Experts suggest Telegram's passivity has serious consequences: according to U.S. Federal Trade Commission data, damages from cryptocurrency scams increased by 42% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, reaching $945 million. Alex Holden, founder of Hold Security, attributes this partly to the resurgence of Telegram black market groups, noting that the platform's business model, which primarily focuses on increasing user numbers, conflicts with effective content filtering. Despite 12 detailed questions sent to the platform by Reuters, Telegram provided no specific explanation for why it isn't acting against the new groups, merely stating that it continuously works to improve service security, while Chinese authorities have made at least 1,200 arrests related to cryptocurrency scams operating on the platform as of June 2025.
Sources:
1.
Andy Greenberg
2.
