Moscow police warn of fraud through Telegram and WhatsApp

Telegram and WhatsApp are the main messaging services used by fraudsters committing technology-related crimes, Moscow police cybercrime chief Anton Kononenko said on October 14.

Kononenko spoke at a press conference on combating cyberfraud. He described messaging apps as a principal resource used in these offences. The report did not provide a breakdown of cases by platform or give comparative shares.

The police official also warned about demands from people claiming to represent government services or law enforcement agencies through messaging apps. He said those bodies would not contact residents in this way and require them to take particular actions.

His comments concerned criminals’ use of the services and did not present evidence that the platforms themselves were involved in specific offences. WhatsApp belongs to Meta, whose activities are banned in Russia under an extremism designation.