Pavel Durov has issued a warning about rising cases of blackmail and extortion targeting users of the platform.
💘 According to Durov, scammers have been threatening users to hand over rare, collectible usernames — some of which are valued at over $100,000. In certain cases, bad actors go as far as threatening to leak personal data.
💘 To combat this, Durov is urging users to collect evidence and message him directly via his channel. He’s promised to ban all extortionists and make "Telegram a safe place for everyone."
💘 For those unable to send a direct message due to the channel’s paywall, Durov recommends reaching out to Telegram’s support team instead:
Feel free to reach out to our support team at @notoscam to report any blackmailing attempts. Include the hashtag #blackmail in your message so it reaches the right team member.
Durov explained that removing the paywall isn't currently feasible due to “thousands of messages per minute,” which makes it impossible to read or respond to incoming messages manually.
@durovs_code