How fake Telegram admins find your new members

Fake Telegram admins watch your public group for new members and questions, then DM those people first, using the copied name and photo of a real admin. They don't need to fool anyone for long. They only need to arrive before your team does.

It's one of the oldest plays in community scams, and it still works because it targets the moment someone is most likely to trust a stranger: right after they've asked for help. Here's how it runs and what your team can change.

The playbook, step by step

1. Join your public group, often with several accounts.

2. Watch for two signals: someone new joining, and someone asking a support question.

3. Copy a real admin's display name and photo. Sometimes the name is identical; sometimes it hides a lookalike character.

4. DM the person: "Hi, I'm from the support team, I saw your question in the group."

5. Move them to a bot, a form or a link that asks for a seed phrase, a password, remote access or a "verification" payment.

Why it works

Telegram shows display names prominently, and display names can be copied freely. The username, which is unique, is easy to overlook in a DM. New members also don't know who your admins are yet, so a confident message from "Support" looks perfectly normal.

Honestly, the people who fall for this aren't careless. They asked for help in the right place and got an answer. That's the problem.

Signs to teach your community

• Real admins never DM first.

• Check the username, not the display name, against your pinned admin list.

• No one from support needs a seed phrase, password, 2FA code or remote access.

• Any request to "validate" or "sync" a wallet is a scam.

• Urgency ("your account will be frozen in 30 minutes") is a tell.

What your team can change

• Pin a short message naming your real admins by username. We wrote up what to pin in your Telegram and Discord.

• Use a welcome message that repeats the warning to every new member.

• In larger groups, consider hiding the member list so new joiners are harder to target.

• Give admins a consistent title and keep the admin list short.

• Answer support questions in the group with your official support link, so the first reply people see is the real one.

None of this removes the fakes. It shrinks how many people believe them. Removal is the other half: report each fake account, and any bot or channel it points to, as covered in our guide to Telegram impersonation takedowns.

Frequently asked questions

Can group admins stop members from receiving DMs?

Not directly. Each member controls their own privacy settings, so the pinned admin list and welcome message do most of the work.

Should we stop answering support questions in the group?

No. Answer in public with your official support link. A public reply from a real admin is the best counter to a private one from a fake.

See which fake admins and support accounts are targeting your community today with a free scan.

Nikita Varabei is co-founder and CEO of ChainPatrol. He spends most of his week with fraud and trust and safety teams dealing with impersonation of their brands.