Telegram Scam Alert: PTA Warns Citizens of Hackers

• The PTA issues a cybersecurity warning about the cybercriminal group “Neanderthals.”
• Neanderthals are clever: they scrape data, research markets, and evolve methods.
• Millions lost: scams linked to the Classiscam program with $64.5 million in profits.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued a thorough cybersecurity warning about a cybercriminal group going by the name “Neanderthals.”

The advisory emphasizes the utilization of the Telekopye Telegram Bot, a tool employed by the group to conduct widespread and sophisticated phishing scams.

The group known as the Neanderthals has been utilizing the malicious Telegram bot to create advanced phishing websites, emails, and SMS messages. The PTA’s alert outlines the diverse tactics used by these cybercriminals, who enlist members known as “Mammoths” to carry out scams categorized as seller, buyer, or refund scenarios.

In the seller scam, the Neanderthals pretend to be sellers, tricking Mammoths into buying items that do not actually exist. Conversely, in buyer scams, they take on the role of buyers to obtain sensitive financial information from unsuspecting merchants. Additionally, refund scams involve deceiving Mammoths into a second fraudulent transaction, claiming to provide a refund.

After a detailed investigation, the PTA has connected the Telekopye activity to Classiscam, a scam-as-a-service program that has generated an astonishing $64.5 million in illicit profits since 2019.

The Neanderthals exhibit a high level of sophistication by employing web scrapers, conducting market research, and exploring real estate scams to enhance their phishing schemes.

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Acknowledging the severity of the situation, the PTA has called on users, government officials, and institutions to stay vigilant and adopt necessary protective measures to avoid falling prey to these scams. The cybercriminals, employing anonymity tools like VPNs, proxies, and TOR, have shown a readiness to employ advanced techniques to deceive and defraud unsuspecting individuals.