How to report scam on Telegram, including scams run in your name
Short answer. How to report scam on Telegram depends on what the scammer used. Report the scam messages inside the chat (press and hold, then Report), use Report on the group or channel itself, and send the account link to Telegram’s official @NoToScam bot, which also takes impersonation reports. Public channels can be emailed to [email protected]. Lost money goes to your bank and the police, because a Telegram report does not return funds.
Two different people ask how to report scam on Telegram. One was scammed, or nearly was, by an account on Telegram. The other has found out that someone is running a scam under their own name, photo or brand, and the people losing money believe they are dealing with the real person. Telegram gives both the same tools, but the order of the steps and the evidence that matters are different, so this guide keeps them apart.
There is also no single telegram report scammer button that covers every case. Telegram splits the work between in-app reports, which a moderator reads alongside the reported messages, an official bot for scam and impersonation reports, and email addresses for public content. None of them tells the reporter what happened afterwards.
In 2025 the FTC received more than 1 million reports of imposter scams, and reported losses to them rose by nearly 20% to $3.5 billion. Reports of government imposter scams alone were up 40%.Federal Trade Commission, “New trends in reports of imposter scams”, consumer alert, 7 May 2026.
How to report scam on Telegram: which route fits the case?
The route for a Telegram scam report follows the object, not the type of scam. Messages are reported from inside the chat, groups and channels from their own Report item, and an account pretending to be you or a brand goes to @NoToScam. Public content can also be emailed with its t.me link. Lost money, threats and stolen documents need a report outside Telegram as well, because Telegram cannot act on them.
The table is the short version of how to report scam on Telegram for each case. Each row lists what a route accepts, what it needs from you, and the most it can do. The step-by-step menus for every device are in our walkthrough on reporting a Telegram group or channel; this page stays on scams and impersonation.
| Situation | Telegram route | Send with it | The most it can do |
|---|---|---|---|
| A stranger messages you with a scam | Report the messages; Report spam on the bar above a new chat | The messages asking for money, codes or a transfer | Limit or ban the sender’s account |
| A group or channel runs the scam | Report on the group or channel profile | The posts that show the scheme, the t.me link | Block the group or channel for everyone |
| An account pretends to be you or your brand | @NoToScam | Link to the fake account and to your real one | Remove the account or label it as fake |
| A public channel copies your work | [email protected] | Proof you own the work, t.me links to each copy | Take down public channels, bots and sticker sets |
| A public channel misuses your brand | [email protected] or @NoToScam | Trademark or website proof, t.me links | Block the channel |
| You lost money | None inside Telegram; bank, police, FTC and IC3 | Transaction IDs, wallet addresses, the @username | A recall or chargeback attempt; a crime record |
The same split between content, account and payment runs through every platform. Our overview of abuse reports across platforms sets out how the routes compare when one scammer works on several apps at once.
How to report someone on Telegram for scamming in the app
To report someone on Telegram for scamming, open the chat, press and hold one of the scam messages (right-click on desktop), tap Report and choose the reason closest to scam or fraud, then select the other messages that show the pitch. If the account wrote to you first and is not in your contacts, the bar at the top of that chat also offers Report spam.
For most people, how to report scam on Telegram starts here. The in-app route is the most direct way to report telegram for scam content, because the moderator receives the exact messages rather than your summary of them. It is also the only route that carries messages out of a private chat.
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Report the messages, not only the name
Telegram moderators judge what was sent. Pick the message that asks for money, a login code or a wallet transfer, then add the messages that set it up: the job offer, the investment screenshot, the urgent request from a “friend”. The reason list in the Report menu is supplied by Telegram’s servers, so its wording can change between app versions.
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Use the bar above a new chat
When someone outside your contacts writes first, Android shows BLOCK USER and ADD CONTACT above the chat, and iOS shows Report Spam and Add Contact. Blocking from that bar opens a dialog with two boxes, Report spam and Delete this chat. Tick Report spam. Leave Delete unticked until your screenshots exist.
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Report the group or channel as a whole
To report telegram group for scam activity, or to report telegram channel for scam posts, open its profile, open the menu (More on iPhone, the three dots on Android and desktop) and choose Report. Where the app offers to attach posts, attach the ones that show the scheme working.
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Keep copies before anything is deleted
Screenshot the profile, the @username, the messages and any payment details first. Telegram’s FAQ confirms that either side of a private chat can delete any message for both people, leaving no trace, and scammers routinely clear a chat once the money has moved.
How to report a telegram contact as scam artist is a slightly different job, because the spam bar is not shown for someone you saved as a contact. Report the individual messages, then send the profile link to @NoToScam with a line explaining that the account is in your contacts because you trusted it at first.
The limit of every in-app telegram report scam filing is the silence afterwards. Telegram does not notify reporters, so the only visible outcomes are the account disappearing, the group becoming unreachable, or a warning label appearing on the profile.
How to report Telegram scammers to @NoToScam
@NoToScam is Telegram’s official bot for scam and impersonation reports. Its profile is titled Report Impersonation and states that reports about scammers are welcome. Open it at t.me/notoscam, press Start, and send one message containing the scammer’s @username or t.me link, what happened, when it happened, and screenshots. Keep each message to one scammer.
The bot suits a telegram scammer report that is about the account rather than one message: a profile copying a real exchange, a “support agent” who contacts people after they post a question in a public group, or a seller who takes payment and blocks. For a Telegram report scammer case like these, the @username matters more than the display name. Display names can be copied letter for letter; usernames cannot.
Telegram usernames may use only a–z, 0–9 and underscores, and they are case-insensitive, so no two accounts can hold the same one. A copy has to differ by a character: an extra underscore, a doubled letter, a 0 for an O.Telegram FAQ, “What can I use as my username?”, telegram.org/faq, read 3 October 2026.
A report a moderator can act on in one reading contains:
- the scammer’s t.me link, copied from the profile rather than typed;
- one sentence on what the account claims to be;
- the screenshots where it asks for money, a code or a transfer;
- the date and the amount, if money moved;
- for impersonation, the link to the real account it copies, and something public that proves which one is real.
How to report scammers on telegram when several accounts work together: send each one separately, and say in each message what ties them, such as the same payment wallet, the same script or the same group. Repeating the same report about the same account does not move it up a queue. Telegram acts when a moderator agrees with a report, which is why paid mass-report panels sell volume that decides nothing.
The bot has limits of its own. Telegram does not publish a response time for @NoToScam, there is no case number, and how to report telegram scammer accounts that return under a new @username has only one answer: report each new account as it appears, and list the earlier ones.
Someone is impersonating me on Telegram: what to do first
If someone is impersonating you on Telegram, Telegram’s FAQ gives one instruction: “If a scammer is pretending to be you, please contact @NoToScam.” Send the link to the fake account, the link to your real account if you have one, and proof that the real one is yours, such as a website or social profile that links to it. Then warn the people the impersonator is most likely to contact.
Telegram impersonation is a reputation problem before it is a scam problem. The people who lose money will remember your name, not the copied @username, and some of them will post about it. The order below limits the damage while the telegram impersonation report is pending.
Find the copy’s username, not only its name
An impersonator copies the display name and photo exactly and changes the @username slightly, because the real one is taken. Open the fake profile and copy its t.me link. If the fake account only messages people privately, ask one of the recipients to forward you a message from it. A forward usually carries the sender’s profile, unless that account has hidden its forwards in its privacy settings.
Use the app for the messages it sent
People asking how to report impersonation on Telegram app screens often look for a Report button on the fake profile. On most app versions an ordinary user’s profile offers Block but no general Report item, so the messages are the handle. Report every message the fake account sent you, and ask the people it contacted to report the messages they received. That is how to report impersonation on Telegram from inside the app; the account itself goes to @NoToScam.
Put a notice where the impersonator sends people
Pin a short notice on your real channel and put a line in your bio: your one @username, and that you never ask for payment in private messages. Post the same notice wherever your audience finds you, because the impersonator found them there first. A notice works while the telegram impersonation report is still being reviewed, which a report cannot do on its own.
Check the copies on other platforms
Photos used for a fake Telegram profile come from somewhere public, and the same person often builds copies elsewhere. The Instagram impersonation form asks for a photo of you holding ID and handles one account per report, while reporting an Instagram account covers the other routes there. When Instagram refuses the first report, removing a fake Instagram account on a second route sets out what to file next. Facebook runs a separate process, set out in our guide to reporting a fake Facebook account. Copies on X go through reporting an X account, and Snapchat copies through Snapchat’s reporting flow.
Someone is impersonating me on Telegram: Reddit threads and paid offers
Searches for someone is impersonating me on telegram reddit tend to come after a first report went unanswered. Forum threads help with spotting a pattern, but the replies are also where recovery scammers look for customers: accounts offering to “get the fake removed” for a fee, or claiming a contact inside Telegram. Nobody outside Telegram can remove a Telegram account, and nobody needs a payment to file a report for you.
If the fake account publishes false statements about you rather than taking money, the problem is closer to defamation, which has different routes; see our guide to online defamation removal. Some US states also treat online impersonation as a crime, including California (Penal Code §528.5) and Texas (Penal Code §33.07). Whether either applies depends on the facts, and this is not legal advice.
Which Telegram email takes a scam or impersonation report?
Telegram’s FAQ names [email protected] for illegal content, sent with links, and [email protected] for copyright. For a telegram impersonation email, write to [email protected] with the t.me link of the fake account and of the real one. The same FAQ sends impersonation victims to @NoToScam first, so treat the email as a second channel rather than a replacement.
Most people searching “report impersonation telegram email” want a route that does not need the app, perhaps because their own account was taken over. Email is the main way to report a telegram scammer online from a browser, alongside the EU notice form at telegram.org/dsa-report for people in the European Union. An email that a moderator can act on looks like this:
- Subject: Impersonation and fraud, t.me/[fake username]
- Who you are: your name, your real account’s t.me link, and a public page that links to it.
- What the fake does: two or three sentences, with dates.
- Evidence: screenshots attached, each showing the fake @username in frame.
How to report a telegram scammer online when the scam happened in a private chat is the hard case. A private chat has no link a moderator can open, so an email can only describe it. Report the messages from the app as well, because the in-app report sends the messages themselves.
The address matters less than the contents. When the impersonating account, phishing page or scam channel is public, build the email around t.me links a moderator can open in one click. A report that relies only on screenshots gives the reviewer nothing to check against the live account.
Is there a Telegram copyright report form?
There is no Telegram copyright report form and no Telegram DMCA form on the web. Telegram’s FAQ sends copyright complaints about “a bot, channel, sticker set, or other content that is a part of Telegram’s public platform” to [email protected]. A fake channel using your logo and name is usually a trademark and impersonation problem rather than copyright, and belongs with [email protected] or @NoToScam.
Brand abuse on Telegram usually arrives as a bundle: a channel with your name, your product photos reposted, and a “support” account taking payments. Split it. The photos and text you created are copyright, and the name and logo are trademark. The payments are fraud. Each part goes to the route built for it.
A US copyright notice by email needs the elements listed in 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3): your signature, the work, the t.me link to each copy, your contact details, a good-faith statement, and a statement under penalty of perjury that you are authorised to act for the owner. Our explainer on how a DMCA takedown works covers the counter-notice that can follow.
Scam operations rarely stay on one platform. Promoters often push the Telegram channel from short videos, and getting the TikTok promoter banned removes one of its entry points; when the same operation sells through a storefront, reporting a TikTok Shop seller follows a different route. Some move victims into chat servers, where reporting a Discord server is the matching route. When angry victims of a brand impersonator review the real business, Google review removal becomes part of the cleanup.
How to report a Telegram scammer number
Telegram has no route for reporting a phone number on its own, so how to report telegram scammer number details comes down to finding the account behind it. Reports attach to accounts, messages, groups and channels. Save the number as a contact and check whether a Telegram account appears; the owner’s privacy settings can hide it. If one appears, report its messages and send the profile to @NoToScam.
If no account appears, the number belongs with phone-side reporting. In the US, forward scam text messages to 7726 (SPAM) so your carrier can review the sender, and include the number in an FTC report. A number alone rarely identifies a person, because scam operations use numbers bought for the purpose and discard them.
A different problem is a scammer’s Telegram account that seems to use your number. A Telegram account belongs to whoever can receive its login code and knows its two-step password, so an account on your number means either your SIM was taken over or the number was reassigned to someone else after you gave it up. A takeover of your own account is an account recovery case, and the carrier comes first.
How to report Telegram scams online, outside Telegram
Telegram can remove an account but cannot return money or open a criminal case. In the US, report telegram scams online to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov, then call your bank or card issuer the same day. Elsewhere, file with your national fraud reporting service or local police. Put the Telegram @username and t.me links in every report.
The FBI’s IC3 recorded just over $20.8 billion in reported losses in 2025 from more than one million complaints, up 26% on the year. Investment fraud accounted for more than $8.6 billion, and cryptocurrency investment fraud was the largest single source of loss at $7.2 billion.FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 IC3 Annual Report, April 2026.
Once money has left your account, how to report scam on Telegram is only half of the job. That figure is why how to report telegram scams to the authorities matters even when the loss is small. A Telegram report scammer filing and a police report do different jobs: the first removes an account, the second creates a record that links victims of the same operation. Telegram also hands over data to authorities more often than it once did. 404 Media reported in January 2025 that Telegram fulfilled 900 US requests covering 2,253 users in 2024, most of them after its policy change in September 2024.
| Where | What it can do | Most useful evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Your bank or card issuer | Attempt a recall or chargeback; flag the receiving account | Transfer reference, date, amount, recipient details |
| Crypto exchange you sent from | Flag the destination wallet; preserve records for police | Transaction hash, wallet address |
| FTC (ReportFraud.ftc.gov) | Adds the report to a database shared with law enforcement | How you were contacted, the @username, amounts |
| FBI IC3 (ic3.gov) | Collects complaints for investigation and links related cases | Wallets, phone numbers, t.me links, screenshots |
| Local police | Opens a crime report; can request data from Telegram | A dated timeline and every identifier you have |
What happens after a Telegram scam report?
Telegram does not tell the reporter what it decided. A reported account can be banned, limited so it cannot message strangers, or left active with a warning label. Telegram’s API defines two such labels on accounts: scam, and fake, which it describes as an account “reported by many users as a fake or scam user”. Groups and channels can be blocked outright.
The label is the outcome most people never notice. On iOS it appears as a warning on the profile that many users reported the account as a scam or a fake account. A label warns the next person who opens the profile; it does not remove anything, and the account may keep running.
Telegram’s moderation page counted 26,956,025 groups and channels blocked in 2026 when we read it on 3 October 2026. The page counts groups and channels only, so banned user accounts, including most individual scammers, appear in no public figure.Telegram Moderation Overview, telegram.org/moderation, read 3 October 2026.
Report volume does not decide the outcome. A telegram scam report from one victim with clear screenshots carries more weight than twenty reports without them, the same pattern other platforms describe; the question of how many reports a ban takes on Instagram has the same answer. There is no published timeline, and no route to appeal a decision you were never told about.
When reporting a Telegram scammer does not work
Reporting a Telegram scammer does not work when the evidence sat in a chat that was deleted, when the scammer comes back under a new account, or when the goal is to get money back. Telegram can remove an account, but no Telegram report scammer route reverses a bank transfer or a crypto payment, and Telegram does not confirm decisions to the person who reported.
Knowing how to report scam on Telegram covers the platform side only. A scammer who loses one account can open another with a new number the same day, and each new account needs its own report. Speed matters here: report scam on telegram the day you see it, while the messages and the account still exist.
The damage that outlasts a ban sits outside Telegram. A brand whose name was used in a scam can find “scam” next to its name in search results and in reviews written by people the impersonator cheated. That part is reputation management work, and removing negative reviews written about the wrong party is often the first step. When exposure turns into harassment of the person who reported, the routes for reporting harassment on Facebook and other platforms apply instead.
A telegram scammer report through @NoToScam is still worth filing when nothing visible happens. It feeds the label that warns the next person, and it puts the account on record if police later request data from Telegram.
Frequently asked questions
Does the scammer find out who reported them on Telegram?
Telegram does not tell a reported account who filed the report. The reported person can guess, especially in a one-to-one chat, so block the account after reporting and keep copies of the messages first.
Can I report a Telegram scammer without the app?
Yes. To report telegram scammer online without the app, email [email protected] with the scammer’s t.me link and screenshots, or use telegram.org/dsa-report if you are in the European Union. @NoToScam and the in-app Report buttons need a Telegram account.
Will reporting a scammer on Telegram get my money back?
No. Telegram can ban or label an account but cannot reverse payments. Call your bank or card issuer the same day, report to the police, and in the US file with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI at ic3.gov.
Should I forward scam messages to @SpamBot?
No. Telegram describes @SpamBot as the bot that helps users with limited accounts regain full functionality. Report scam messages from the chat itself and send scam or impersonation accounts to @NoToScam.
Someone copied my profile but has not scammed anyone yet. Can I still report it?
Yes. Telegram’s FAQ sends anyone whose identity is being used to @NoToScam, whether or not money has moved. Report early, with the fake account’s t.me link and a public page that links to your real account.
How long does Telegram take to act on a scam report?
Telegram publishes no timeline for scam or impersonation reports and does not confirm outcomes. Watch the account: a ban makes it unreachable, and a warning label appears on the profile when many users have reported it.
How do I report scam on Telegram when the scammer deleted the chat?
Report the account to @NoToScam with its @username and whatever screenshots you kept, and report any messages that remain in shared groups. Without the messages a moderator has less to judge, so file police and bank reports in parallel.
Someone running scams under your name?
Send the fake account’s link, your real account and what you have reported so far. The review sets out which route fits each part of the case, and what can be done about the search results and reviews it has left behind.