➽Explainer Article

Telegram’s Dirty Secret: The Recycled World of Stolen Data Channels

Jun 11, 2025
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by Cyber Analyst
Telegram’s Dirty Secret: The Recycled World of Stolen Data Channels

➤Summary

Telegram log clouds are a growing, robust criminal ecosystem enabling real-time sharing and monetization of stolen credentials. They combine ease-of-access, automation, and scale—serving both low-value consumer-fraud operations and high-stakes corporate breaches.  Telegram channels stream stolen credentials (“stealer logs”) captured by infostealer malware (like RedLine, Raccoon, Vidar). They publish public samples to lure visitors, then sell access to fresh, exclusive dumps via crypto-paid tiers or one-off charges. These logs can include passwords, cookies, session tokens, credit card data, crypto wallet access—even corporate and cloud credentials . Operations are highly automated—bots handle payments, content delivery, log submission—and channels often change names or spawn mirrors to dodge moderation

Popular channel archetypes

Researchers and cybersecurity blogs highlight some major types:

  • Moon Cloud — A big aggregator that curates logs from many sources, offers free samples and paid premium dumps
  • Observer Cloud — Freely shares logs (often tagged by malware origin, e.g., RedLine), with minimal monetization
  • Daisy Cloud — Established since 2021; uses bots, rotates channels, pumps daily fresh logs via a freemium model
  • ALIEN TXTBASE — Released massive ULP combolist (billions of credentials). But significant overlap with older breaches—not all data is fresh
  • LOG SYNC — Mixes community contributions with proprietary dumps, teasing paid logs via free giveaways

 

Scale, pricing & value

  • Subs often cost €90–150/month, granting access to hundreds of thousands of logs per month—works out to <€1 per stolen device
  • Public channels offer lower-tier consumer log dumps (~€10–15), boosted with previews to funnel users into higher-value channels
  • Corporate access logs (cloud, SaaS tools like AWS, Okta, GCP) are more valuable—around $112 on markets like Genesis

 

Why Telegram?

  • No dark-web tools needed—just a Telegram account and invite link.
  • Fast scaling via bots; logs arrive in real time as victims are infected
  • Resilience—channels constantly rebrand, clone, or spawn backups to avoid takedowns

A recent academic study analyzing 339 criminal Telegram channels (DarkGram) found that ~28% of links lead to phishing, and 38% of executables include malware; 196 channels were shut down in three months—but many reemerged

Chain of exploitation

  1. Infostealer malware infects devices, harvesting browser credentials, cookies, wallets, system data
  2. Logs are packaged and sent to Telegram bots or channels.
  3. Distributed free/premium on Telegram, or sold on dark web markets.
  4. Buyers use the credentials for financial fraud, account takeover, or corporate breaches. Logs with corporate/cloud access are especially prized
  5. Initial Access Brokers purchase and resell access to enterprise environments via ransomware/extortion chains

CTA Darknetsearch.com

Telegram channels = mostly resale or expired logs

Channels like Moon Cloud, Daisy Cloud, or Observer Logs generally recycle old data or repost logs already sold through other channels, including marketplaces and botnets. These public/pseudo-private channels act more as advertisements or bait: they attract buyers with “daily leaks” but rarely offer fresh first-hand infections. Many logs contain credentials already used or invalidated. Passwords often reused across services do offer some utility, but attackers looking for Initial Access or wallets with funds often find them stale.

The real fresh logs flow through more exclusive routes:

  1. Direct from malware operators
  • Malware operators (stealer-as-a-service crews) like RedLine, Raccoon, Lumma, MetaStealer, etc., often run private Telegram bots or admin panels where affiliates (who deploy the malware) can retrieve fresh logs.
  • These logs are not resold unless the affiliate chooses to, and are typically sold in bulk (e.g., 10K logs/day) to vetted buyers.
  1. Access brokers and resellers
  • Skilled operators manually extract high-value entries (crypto wallets, enterprise credentials, cloud access) from fresh logs and sell these to:
    • Ransomware gangs (for initial access)
    • Fraudsters (for bank/CEX scams)
    • Credential stuffing crews
  • These sales occur over:
    • Invite-only Telegram groups
    • Direct encrypted comms (e.g., TOX, XMPP, SimpleX)
    • Darknet marketplaces (e.g., Russian Market, Genesis, RussianMob)
  1. Specialized log shops
  • Shops like Genesis, Russian Market, or newer ones like 2easy.shop provide interactive dashboards where you can:
    • Filter by region, IP, domain in logs
    • Preview cookies or autologin tokens
    • Buy only one log for $5–$100, depending on value (e.g., crypto wallet = $$$)

These platforms have much better filtering, and the data is usually uploaded minutes to hours after infection.

Summary

Telegram is the gateway layer:

    • It spreads stealer malware (via cracked games, software drops, fake bots)
    • It offers “teaser” leaks to funnel users into real shops or into malware-as-a-service
    • It allows low-tier actors to buy in bulk (e.g., 10K logs for $50) and run their own spam/phishing ops

But for enterprise breach ops, ransomware, or big financial fraud, Telegram is downstream — not where fresh value is created.

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