UN says illegal Telegram marketplaces on the rise and popularity of USDT among criminals

What’s new? The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has published the second report on cybercrime in Southeast Asia this year. The document reiterates the popularity of Tether’s USDT stablecoin, issued on the TRON blockchain, in the criminal environment, and for the first time mentions the TON blockchain, which is tightly integrated with Pavel Durov’s Telegram messenger.

UN report

What else is known? Experts estimate that cyber fraud losses in the region last year totaled between $18 billion and $37 billion. Most of the losses are related to organized crime.

The report notes that criminals no longer need to engage in money laundering, writing extortion malware code, or stealing sensitive information on their own. All of these services can now be purchased from vendors on dark web marketplaces and forums, often at very low prices.

According to the UN “There is strong evidence of underground data markets moving to Telegram.” It is alleged that the messenger has marketplaces where you can buy programs for data interception and extortion, making deepfakes, and more.

As in the January report, UN experts wrote in the new document that USDT on the TRON blockchain is the preferred money laundering option for Asian syndicates.

Earlier this year, the UN said that USDT is actively used by illegal online casinos as well as organizers of fraudulent schemes, including so-called romance scams. At the time, Tether offered the UN cooperation in developing measures to combat financial crime.

In the same month, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino attributed the popularity of the TRON blockchain to its cheap and fast transactions.

The UN statements regarding Telegram come amid an ongoing investigation into the messenger and its head, Pavel Durov. In late August, the businessman was arrested in France, facing a number of charges related to illegal activities in Telegram. Durov was released on bail and banned from leaving the country for the duration of the investigation, it later became known that he agreed to cooperate with the authorities.

Following France, India and Indonesia, the largest markets for the messenger in terms of the number of active users, began investigating Telegram.