The advanced features of Telegram, while designed to offer the privacy of users, have also offered a haven for cybercriminals. Encrypted chats and private channels offer a platform for illegal activities to be conducted without detection. The anonymity factor offers the cover to conceal identities, making detection of perpetrators impossible. Bots are commonly used for executing scams, propagating malicious materials, or selling illegal goods. These capabilities combined result in Telegram being a desirable platform for structured cybercrime, as it allows criminals to conduct their crimes secretly without facing traditional oversight by authorities.
Telegram has turned into breeding ground for all types of cybercrimes in Bangladesh. The illicit activities which most predominantly exist in it are online drug trade, hacking service, distributing revenge pornography, selling forged NID and certificates, exam question leaking, and cryptocurrency scam. Gambling gangs utilize the app for clandestinely running their business.
Youths are likely to be drawn to platforms like Telegram due to curiosity, thrill of access to forbidden content, peer influence, and the allure of quick money from illegal online activities. The aspect of assured anonymity makes it tempting. But many youths are not digitally literate enough to understand the risks that come with prosecution and negative consequences in the long term. This weakness is once more used by cybercriminals to enlist or take advantage of teenagers to use for scams, illegal trading, or stealing data and make them victims or unwilling actors in cybercrime.
Rising digital generation gap has left the majority of parents, teachers, and institutions behind in tracking teenagers activities on the internet. The majority of guardians are not tech-savvy enough to navigate through sites like Telegram, and digital ethics education in schools is not common. This lack of control allows teenagers to explore cyber risk environments without supervision or censure. This results in uncontrolled access to offending content, exploitation, or access to e-crime, which is why responsible digital control by institutions and families is necessary.
There are also closed groups and channels which are access-restricted only through coded invites or secret links, which tend to be shared privately or on social media. The encrypted groups are difficult to join for all those outside of them, including even governments. In such groups, youths construct virtual communities centered on illegal content everything from leaked exam papers to pornography and cyber-fraud schemes. Peer networks also confirm participation, desensitizing criminal behavior and enabling individuals to be recruited, manipulated, or exploited in cybercrime environments.
Misuse of Telegram is causing growing mental sickness in youth. Open access to obscenity is often leading to addiction to the web and insensitivity. By indulging in unsafe online behaviors, like criminal behavior or spilling out personal secrets, they subject themselves to abuse and exploitation. With growing activity on the screen, most teenagers slide into social isolation, isolating them from family and actual relationships. This isolation creates fearfulness, confusion of identity, and skewed perception of reality, which subsequently heightens their susceptibility to cybercrime and online exploitation.
The authorities in Bangladesh find it difficult to track cybercriminals on Telegram. The platform is highly encrypted, has anonymous users, and is hosted on foreign servers, which makes it challenging to track the offenders or even access the information of users. Due to lack of co-operation from Telegram with the government, it becomes increasingly difficult for investigations to be conducted by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Cyber Crime Unit. Even where crime is dominant, seizure of evidence delectable by courts or shutting down risky content is normally set aside, allowing illicit business to continue un-checked in the virtual world.
Several recent incidents reflect the incident of Telegram in cybercrime throughout Bangladesh. In May 2024, a gang of selling recruitment exam answers through Telegram using the help of spy devices was raided by Dhaka police. In April 2025, one Chattogram student was arrested for selling SSC and HSC questions on Telegram groups. Similarly, 19 people have been arrested in Rangpur in November 2023 on teacher recruitment paper leak cases. The above instances showcase a chilling trend where Telegram is more and more being used to facilitate exam cheating and other cybercrimes against students and youth.
Combating cybercrime through Telegram includes nation-level awareness and public campaign. National-level digital literacy programs should be present, and media literacy classes should be incorporated into the curricula so students are aware of safe internet use. Teachers and NGOs need to collaborate and promote decent messaging app use. Parents need to be educated so they can familiarize themselves with digital platforms and guide their children. Community campaigns can also have a major role to play in early identification of threats and assistance towards the establishment of a secure virtual space for Bangladesh’s young population.
In order to counter cybercrime funded by Telegram, Bangladesh needs to introduce stricter monitoring mechanisms and impose diplomatic pressure to elicit the support of Telegram with local law enforcement agencies. Cyberpolicy for youth should focus on more education, prevention, and rehabilitation rather than punishment. Protections of individual privacy need to be weighed against protections that promote digital security. A multi-stakeholder approach by the government, technology platforms, and civil society is necessary in creating a secure digital space for Youths.
The writer is an LLB student, Department of Law, World University of Bangladesh
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