While everyone was focused on the Israel-Iran tension, a huge Telegram scam flew under the radar. We’re talking about $50 million vanishing in an OTC scheme that promised discounts of up to 50% on hot altcoins.

The story is a classic Ponzi scheme: it started in November 2024 as a legitimate OTC business, circulating through private Telegram groups. The hook? It offered allocations for projects like Apto, SEI, and SWELL at absurd discounts. Everything was backed by respected names in the community, which gave people total confidence.

At first, it worked. People were making money, and more people kept joining—the typical vicious Ponzi cycle. But that was all it was—new money paying for the old gains. Until May 2025, when things started to feel off. Token distributions were delayed, with vague excuses about exchange issues and travel. Nobody paid much attention because they were still profiting.

It was in June 2025 that it finally became clear. Aza Ventures, which had been involved, revealed that it had been defrauded and began investigating. They found that everything was being run by a person called “Source 1.” And then things blew up—not a one-off scam, but a global network.

Blockchain analysts like Altcoin Alpha and Crypto Sleuth started pulling on the threads and pointed to Ravinder Kumar, founder of Self Chain, as the main suspect behind the Telegram scam. He denied everything, promised to clarify soon, but so far, nothing new has come out.

The worst part is that this Telegram scam shows how fragile security still is in this space. Respected names endorsing it, private groups creating a false sense of exclusivity, promises of easy gains. The perfect recipe to fool people who should know better. Remember: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.