With the rise of Telegram’s The Open Network (TON) ecosystem, it is hardly a surprise that it is increasingly becoming the target of malicious actors looking for (and often finding) a way to get their hands on other people’s private information and assets – with a particular rise in various phishing methods.
As it happens, the founder of blockchain security firm SlowMist, Yu Xian, a.k.a. Mr. Cos, has warned about the growing amount of phishing attacks in the TON ecosystem, as phishing links circulate in groups on Telegram, targeting users’ TON wallets, according to an X post on June 24.
Indeed, Mr. Cos explained that:
“The Telegram ecosystem is too free, and many phishing links (or bot forms) are spread through message groups, airdrops, and other deceptive methods to lure away users’ TON wallets in batches.”
Moreover, among the targets of these hackers are non-fungible tokens (NFTs), especially Anonymous Telegram Numbers, which are similar to mobile phone numbers, and many people use them to create Telegram accounts. As SlowMist’s founder highlighted:
“If these are phished away, it means that the corresponding Telegram account may also be lost unless the user has enabled an independent password, i.e. Two-Step Verification.”
TON ecosystem – expanding attack vector
Meanwhile, Telegram has announced a new in-app digital currency, called Telegram Stars, which aims to facilitate the purchase of digital goods and services across all mini-apps on Telegram, and which users can purchase with fiat currency or directly within the TON ecosystem.
On top of that, Telegram also announced a partnership with Tether (USDT) in April this year, with a goal to drive further adoption of crypto assets via the messaging platform, with the launch of the stablecoin on the TON blockchain as part of this initiative.
It goes without saying that caution is necessary with both Tether and the new cryptocurrency in the expanding TON crypto ecosystem, as well as its original token, Toncoin, which is currently changing hands at the price of $7.23, having declined 7.80% across the week but advancing 18.63% this month.