The Expert Podcast

…Is the telegram messenger app a scam or a fraud or is it dangerous to use ? This is Dave at active Intel investigations ? No the telegram app is just fine There's nothing wrong with it It's not a scam It's not a fraud. It's safe to use as long as you're performing due diligence and caution on the activities you take using the app And here's why I say this. Many times when we investigate a fraud or a scam. Where somebody lost money to a Ponzi scheme. Or had their identity. stolen or been hacked. Many times the scammers or fraudsters have used. The telegram messenger app. To start the conversation to continue the conversation or to exchange information. And we believe the reason for it is is because it's anonymous. You can use this with either no identity or fake identity. In many cases where a person has sent tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Bitcoin scam or fraud, and they say well, the person contacted me on telegram, or I communicated with them on telegram. The reason for it is unlike a phone you had to have a phone number. You don't have an address You don't have a physical location to identify that person. So scammers can use this to keep a distance, to stay anonymous and still have a conversation with you Many times these fraudsters are overseas in other countries. So if you're using telegram that's fine. Just make sure you're not exchanging personal private information that could be used to. Do identity theft or other types of harm to you. And also if you're investing in anything where you're sending money, Verify the identities of the person and the company separately from the app. Get a name get an address Verify it's true. Verify the company If they're an investment company they have a website they have an address and don't just go by the street address on their website Many of these frauds will just pick an address from Google maps where there's an a. a commercial building that has offices in it and say we're at. You know 25 fifth avenue in Manhattan Well they may not be there. Obviously you can't physically go to any location if it's far away from where you live, but you want to verify they're there How could you do that Well, You know you could call and have them. Prove that there at the address. You could even call…a company that's in the same building down the hall and ask them look, is this company down the hall from you ? We've had case. where somebody was being asked to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we recommended. That you hire. A quarrier mobile notary somebody local, even a Uber driver to go to the address walk in the door and ask if that company's there. It might cost 40 or $50. But that's a very cheap. Way to verify the identity of who you're dealing with. So telegram app by itself is not problematic. But you may find that people who are more scammers. Use the app because it gives them some value The validation that they're using an app, but also it gives them some secrecy behind who they are. It's kind of like the same thing as a…Walmart money order. Right. Walmart money order isn't a scam by itself but many scammers use it to transfer money to themselves. Right. So be cautious with the telegram. App, make sure you're using it correctly and you know telegram themselves They'll tell you how to protect yourself. They have a lot of very good consumer protections on their app and on their website. So you can heed those to make sure that your use of that particular messaging application, isn't going to cost you money or lose your investment.