Telegram as an online offender convergence setting: Exploring the activities of cybercrime offenders using longitudinal data

• In Event: Cybercrime Offenders & Victims (part 2)

Abstract

In recent years, Telegram has emerged as a digital offender convergence setting, making it possible for anyone to become involved in cybercrime. However, very little research is conducted on how offenders utilize Telegram, with a virtual absence of longitudinal data. The aim of the current exploratory study is therefore to provide more insight into the activities and operations of cybercrime offenders on Telegram, with which we can directly inform law enforcement on how to approach this platform. To accomplish this, we utilized a large dataset containing content of 14 Dutch Telegram groups that revolve around illegal products or services, both related to cybercrimes and traditional crimes. This information was collected by scraping all the messages that were posted in the groups from August 2022 to August 2023. In this time frame, we found that more than 1,400 users were involved in cybercrimes, while 8,900 users were involved in traditional crimes. Many cybercrime offenders also engaged in traditional crime categories, while traditional offenders virtually all specialized in traditional crimes. Some of the users were extremely active, with some crime categories being associated with an average of 500 messages per user. However, noticeable is that only a small minority of all the messages are unique, which means the same message tended to be shared very often. This possibly reflects a degree of organization and cooperation behind the messages. Data also showed that, overall, almost half of the users stop posting messages at some point. Especially phishers tended to quit. Our data provides unique insights into the use of Telegram by offenders, and offers ground for future endeavors to further investigate the role of Telegram in the preparation and commission of crime.

Authors

• Luuk Bekkers, The Hague University of Applied Sciences

• Joeri Loggen, The Hague University of Applied Sciences

• Hugo Bijmans, TNO

• Naomi Keja, TNO

• Ignas Melman, TNO

• Rutger Leukfeldt, NSCR