Despite Facebook surpassing Telegram in targeting traders, over 60 percent of victims on Telegram actually lost money, a joint survey by Finance Magnates and FXStreet found. Although Telegram and WhatsApp both have about the same percentage of scam victims who lost funds, the number of traders getting targeted on WhatsApp is smaller than Telegram, which hosts many channels and groups of active traders.

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Traders on Telegram Are Vulnerable

The survey, in which 631 traders participated, revealed that 60.09 percent of traders targeted by scammers on Telegram lost funds. The figure is 59.6 percent for traders on WhatsApp, 56.2 percent for Facebook, 51.8 percent for Instagram, and 50 percent for SMS. For X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn, this figure is at 43.7 percent and 45.4 percent, respectively.

Previously, Finance Magnates had identified Facebook as the primary platform for scammers targeting traders. However, this cross-data paints a different picture, revealing that traders on Telegram are significantly more vulnerable to losing funds.

Telegram: The Favourite Platform of Traders

Telegram is a favorite trading platform and hosts multiple active communities, unlike platforms like Facebook. Because of features like privacy, anonymity, and the ability to create channels and groups, traders prefer this platform over others. However, this enables scammers to target active traders on Telegram precisely.

"Telegram is built around privacy and a hands-off approach to content moderation," said Pere Monguió, FXStreet's Co-CEO. "This has its obvious downsides: it lags in account verification and infringement take-downs. Impersonating anyone is so easy, and taking that account down is so difficult that it is an ideal platform for scammers. Telegram should take action or take responsibility for what happens on its platform."

The messaging platform's move towards integrating payment systems can be exploited by scammers to facilitate financial transactions directly within the app, making it easier for them to receive payments from victims without going through external payment processors that might have more stringent fraud prevention measures.

WhatsApp also provides end-to-end encryption for messages and is constantly adding features. The anonymity feature of the platform also help scammers to operate there. Furthermore, with a global user base of about 2.78 billion, WhatsApp provides a vast target to scammers. WhatsApp's private messaging nature makes it harder for external parties to monitor and report scams.

Finance Magnates approached Telegram and WhatsApp to know their view on the matter but has not received any response as of press time.

Earlier, Finance Magnates revealed the rampant clones of brokers and signal providers on Telegram. According to a Financial Times report, Telegram has 900 million users and is nearing profitability. The messaging platform is now considering to go public.

“I would encourage any trader to not solely rely on a social media post or conversation with a potential provider but to instead insist on seeing the documentation that lays behind their claims,” David Harvie, Saxo Australia's Head of Direct Sales, told Finance Magnates. “You also have the opportunity to check on the website of your jurisdiction's regulator to ensure your broker is appropriately licensed.”

“All in all, I would encourage a prudent approach when choosing a broker. While the headline in a social media post may be alluring, a savvy trader should dig deeper to gain confidence they’ve made their first decision a smart one – picking a reputable broker for the long term.”

According to the latest survey, 20.8 percent of the traders who were victims of online scams on Telegram did not lose any money. This figure is 18.78 percent for the victims on Facebook, 17.95 percent for Instagram, 20.74 percent for WhatsApp, 28.43 percent on SMS, 23.94 percent on X, and 36.96 percent on Linkedin, which is the highest.

Earlier, Finance Magnates reported that confidence to avoid online scams is lowest among rookie traders compared to experienced ones.