Telegram is still hosting Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language black market that British officials have levied sanctions on and accused of facilitating crypto scams and human trafficking, according to WIRED.
Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic found that Xinbi processed $505 million in transactions and added tens of thousands of users in the 19 days following the UK sanctions, the magazine said. The illicit marketplace now has a user base totally nearly half a million, according to the report.
The UK government blacklisted Xinbi Guarantee on March 26 through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, alleging it had enabled and profited from scam centers in Southeast Asia linked to human trafficking and forced labor.
The messaging platform previously defended its hosting of Xinbi and other Chinese-language markets by arguing that some users were seeking alternative ways to move funds internationally despite China’s financial controls, though researchers interviewed by WIRED said the platform was being used predominantly for illicit finance and other criminal services.
According to the report, Elliptic and other researchers have for months identified the market as a hub for money laundering services used by crypto scammers, as well as listings for products such as tasers, electrified batons, and handcuffs that appeared to be tied to forced-labor compounds in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.
The marketplace has also offered harassment services, including offers to threaten or throw feces at individuals, and access to sex workers as young as 14 years old, according to the report. One recent listing cited by WIRED advertised a 16-year-old sex worker, describing in detail her measurements and available sex acts.
That Telegram has refused to remove Xinbi’s accounts is appalling, according to Gary Warner, a security researcher who spoke to WIRED.
“It boggles my mind,” Warner told the magazine. “There’s literally no legitimate company in the world that hosts this level of criminal activity and is so open about it. There’s nothing that even comes close.”
Read more at WIRED