• We started an Official_TorGuard Telegram Channel in October '22 so Iranians could buy VPN service
• Telegram channel "VPNClub" re-sold fake TorGuard accounts ripping off users and generating thousands of complaints to Telegram per week. (He made 50K+ while doing it)
• After eight months of inaction by Telegram and tens of thousands of user complaints to Telegram, legal requests, emails, tweets, we had enough.
• On April 17th, 2023, TorGuard deleted our Telegram channel. Four days later, on April 21st, 2023, TorGuard's Telegram channel was restored (without our authorization) and given to the VPNClub owner.
• VPNClub channel owner Moslem Motaghi began ripping off Telegram users with the (former) Official_TorGuard Telegram channel, again stealing their money and laughing while doing it.
• TorGuard's numerous attempts to resolve the issue with Telegram were ignored, despite presenting substantial evidence. We never once received any reply from Telegram.
• A surprise twist: an insider from VPNClub reached out, took back control of the TorGuard channel/bot, and provided detailed instructions about a secretive Telegram bot used to communicate with Telegram employees.
• The TorGuard CEO, pretending to be Moslem Motaghi, followed the instructions and successfully contacted a Telegram employee, Zheka, who acknowledged their involvement in restoring TorGuard's channel, and deleting VPNClub abuse reports (for monthly payment)
• Evidence was provided by Zheka, confirming they had an insider-level access to Telegram, identifying hidden details not visible to normal users: channel admin usernames, account history, telegram wallet balance, and more.
• Zheka discovered it was the TorGuard CEO, not Moslem Motaghi, offered bribes to TorGuard to forget the incident and also offered additional privileges like access to banned usernames.
• In parallel, Moslem Motaghi reached out, proposing that TorGuard pay him $2K per month in exchange for him to stop selling TorGuard VPN. (such a bad deal)
Can you trust the Telegram service?
After this experience we do not trust Telegram. The company phone with Telegram installed stays in a Faraday bag and only sees the light of day for a few minutes at a time.
it's funny how people blindly trust these "private chat" apps. there's zero reason for this trust, yet so many people fall for it.
whatsapp is the same, but based in the us so the bribes are much more expensive.
signal have the benefit of the doubt thanks to mox background. as in their employees might be corrupted, but i think mox would code proper support tools and look at database logs for employee abuse of access. matrix is minimaly verifiable but they are moving at neck breaking speed which makes them ripe for exploit by bad actors.
ironically, the best method remains plain text email plus pgp.
3 comments
[ 4.4 ms ] story [ 18.8 ms ] thread• We started an Official_TorGuard Telegram Channel in October '22 so Iranians could buy VPN service
• Telegram channel "VPNClub" re-sold fake TorGuard accounts ripping off users and generating thousands of complaints to Telegram per week. (He made 50K+ while doing it)
• After eight months of inaction by Telegram and tens of thousands of user complaints to Telegram, legal requests, emails, tweets, we had enough.
• On April 17th, 2023, TorGuard deleted our Telegram channel. Four days later, on April 21st, 2023, TorGuard's Telegram channel was restored (without our authorization) and given to the VPNClub owner.
• VPNClub channel owner Moslem Motaghi began ripping off Telegram users with the (former) Official_TorGuard Telegram channel, again stealing their money and laughing while doing it.
• TorGuard's numerous attempts to resolve the issue with Telegram were ignored, despite presenting substantial evidence. We never once received any reply from Telegram.
• A surprise twist: an insider from VPNClub reached out, took back control of the TorGuard channel/bot, and provided detailed instructions about a secretive Telegram bot used to communicate with Telegram employees.
• The TorGuard CEO, pretending to be Moslem Motaghi, followed the instructions and successfully contacted a Telegram employee, Zheka, who acknowledged their involvement in restoring TorGuard's channel, and deleting VPNClub abuse reports (for monthly payment)
• Evidence was provided by Zheka, confirming they had an insider-level access to Telegram, identifying hidden details not visible to normal users: channel admin usernames, account history, telegram wallet balance, and more.
• Zheka discovered it was the TorGuard CEO, not Moslem Motaghi, offered bribes to TorGuard to forget the incident and also offered additional privileges like access to banned usernames.
• In parallel, Moslem Motaghi reached out, proposing that TorGuard pay him $2K per month in exchange for him to stop selling TorGuard VPN. (such a bad deal)
Can you trust the Telegram service?
After this experience we do not trust Telegram. The company phone with Telegram installed stays in a Faraday bag and only sees the light of day for a few minutes at a time.
whatsapp is the same, but based in the us so the bribes are much more expensive.
signal have the benefit of the doubt thanks to mox background. as in their employees might be corrupted, but i think mox would code proper support tools and look at database logs for employee abuse of access. matrix is minimaly verifiable but they are moving at neck breaking speed which makes them ripe for exploit by bad actors.
ironically, the best method remains plain text email plus pgp.