Revolut says 58% of reported job scams globally came from Telegram in 2025, dwarfing other platforms for these cases, based on an analysis of 10B+ transactions
Context & Ripple Effects
Revolut's analysis adds a platform-level signal to a fraud record that has already created reputational pressure: it previously faced more authorized-push-payment scam complaints than its UK rivals in related coverage. Earlier reports of a US payments-system loophole exploited by criminals also make fraud controls a material operating issue for the company, not merely a customer-service concern.
For Telegram, the finding concentrates attention on how its communications environment can be used to recruit or deceive job seekers, while stopping short of establishing that the platform caused each reported case.
First-order effects
- Revolut can use the concentration in its reported cases to prioritize detection, warnings and payment-review controls for transfers associated with Telegram-based job approaches.
- Telegram faces sharper scrutiny from users and policymakers over abuse occurring through its service; the data point is about reports observed by Revolut, not a measure of all job scams.
Second-order effects
- Other banks and fintechs may compare their own fraud reports by originating channel, making platform-specific warning flows and intervention rules more common.
- The finding reinforces pressure on payment providers to show that scam losses are being addressed, following earlier concerns over Revolut's scam-complaint record.
Third-order effects
- If similar evidence emerges across providers, scam prevention is likely to shift from generic transaction monitoring toward coordination between messaging platforms and payment firms around high-risk social-engineering patterns.
- The boundary between platform safety and financial-services consumer protection may narrow, with expectations for both sides to document how reported scams are detected and disrupted.
The trend: This is part of a broader shift toward treating messaging-platform abuse and payment fraud as a shared, cross-platform risk rather than separate moderation and banking problems.