(Feb 26): Most job scams reported to finance app Revolut Ltd last year started their journey on the Telegram messaging platform, which has taken the lead as the single largest scam source in many countries.
The London-based fintech said 58% of reported job scams globally came from Telegram, dwarfing other platforms for these cases, based on the firm’s analysis of over 10 billion transactions in 2025.
“The rapid rise of scams stemming from Telegram shows how quickly criminal tactics adapt,” said Woody Malouf, Revolut’s head of financial crime.
Amid an explosion of online fraud, finance firms including Revolut have called out social media companies such as Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms Inc as the weakest link. “We need social media companies to step up,” Malouf said.
Meta’s platforms continue to account for nearly half of all reported scams, the company found, while TikTok had seen a sixfold-increase in the percentage of users reporting scams on the app, according to Revolut. Overall, Telegram accounts for 21% of fraud cases seen by the fintech firm.
A spokesperson for Telegram said it rejected “the claim that a disproportionate amount of scams” involve its platform, noting the messaging app doesn’t use recommendation algorithms that help scams spread quickly while automated protections “stop millions of scam campaigns before they can even begin”.
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TikTok and Meta didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The scams typically involve tricking customers into moving their money to accounts controlled by criminals, known as authorised push payments. Fake jobs, investments, products or relationships are common tactics to persuade victims to approve transactions.
These frauds, which major UK banks are required to refund in most cases, continue to grow in value and were responsible for almost £260 million in losses in the first half of 2025, according to UK Finance.
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A recent study by Juniper Research found that social media platforms generated an estimated £3.8 billion in revenue from fraudulent advertisements targeting European users in 2025.
Uploaded by Liza Shireen Koshy
