Top 10 Dark Web Telegram Channels and Chat Groups

Telegram’s robust privacy features have inadvertently caused a massive migration of dark web activity, creating a digital Wild West where no rules exist. If you’ve stumbled across this article, you are probably curious about what’s in these forbidden (dark web) Telegram channels.

To be perfectly clear: this is NOT a guide on how to join these groups. You should, in fact, avoid them at all costs. This article uncovers the top dark web Telegram channels and groups, and highlights the very real dangers that lurk behind a click.

Our goal is not to encourage exploration, but to arm you with knowledge about the security risks and legal consequences. By mapping out the landscape, we aim to make the digital world “safer” for all of us. Knowing what’s out there is the first step to protecting yourself.

Top Dark Web Telegram Channels at a Glance

Check out this forbidden Telegram channel list highlighting the top dark web channels on Telegram today:

The Changing Landscape of Dark Web Activity on Telegram

You might be thinking, why has Telegram become the dark web? Well, it is because of the privacy and convenience it provides. Traditional dark websites on Tor can be slow, clunky, and not easy for the average user to interact with. On the other hand, Telegram is fast, intuitive, user-friendly, and available on any device.

The built-in privacy features, such as secret chats and the use of usernames instead of phone numbers, provide a sense of safety for bad actors. Channels can be made public or have private, invitation-only access, creating club-like spaces for illegal behaviors.

In many ways, this makes the dark web readily accessible to anyone and has brought dark web threats away of the shadows into the mainstream app. This is why you may find conversations or links to a forbidden Telegram channel on Reddit or other surface web forums—a risky and dangerous way to quell one’s curiosity.

For those curious about the more traditional (but slower and more technical) side of the hidden internet, we’ve compiled a guide to the tools that power it (we should rather say keep an index of it): the top 10 dark web search engines today.

Dark Web and Telegram: What’s the Link?

It’s as simple as it gets: encryption and anonymity. Your standard Telegram chat isn’t as secure as Signal, but Telegram’s “secret chat” feature does use end-to-end encryption. Plus, you can create anonymous accounts and large-scale public channels, encouraging communities that want to work in the dark.

This doesn’t mean that Telegram is illegal or encourages this type of behavior – far from it. Telegram has rules against this activity, and it constantly bans channels. However, it is an ongoing game of whack-a-mole. Every time they shut down a channel, two others pop up instead, making it impossible to monitor.

Note: Participating in these spaces is obviously incredibly risky. You may be exposing yourself to phishing, malware, scams, and illegal content, which could have serious legal implications. Your curiosity is not worth your security or your freedom.

What is in These Forbidden Telegram Channels?

Let’s see what you’d actually encounter if you went down this rabbit hole. Think of it as a digital black market, but rather than just one shady thing in one dark store, you’re in the middle of an entire ecosystem of illegal activity, organized into “stores” selling various types of trouble. 

Here’s an outline of the main illegal black markets you’d find:

• Hacking bazaars: Full of cybercriminals trading what they use to hack. Custom-made malware, lists of software vulnerabilities, and ransomware on-demand services. A person looking to attack anything, regardless of their hacking skills, would have everything they needed to get started right at their fingertips.
• Data leak markets: Stolen personal information, including megabytes of data from email addresses, logins, and personal information, and everything got stolen from companies that got hacked. All packaged and then sold to anyone willing to pay the highest amount, and to be used for identity theft and fraud.
• Financial fraud nooks: This is the area that is explicitly designated for making money. It is a space where vendors sell stolen credit card numbers (also known as “CVV dumps”), hacked PayPal and bank accounts, and even guides on how to commit fraud while not getting caught.
• Illicit physical goods: Yes, vendors are openly selling drugs, counterfeit prescription medications, and other illegal physical products. They are using the system to advertise and sell their inventory, bringing their trading partners into a chat app instead of through the dangerous process of real-world trade.
• Extremist & radical cells: We will also find the disgruntled delinquents who are in the deepest corners of closed communities centered on hate speech, terrorist propaganda, and radicalization. These groups are utilizing encrypted channels to recruit and coordinate while hiding from the eyes of the mainstream platforms. These names and groups have been in hiding for years and need attention as a serious security concern.

How Do These Bad Actors Get Away with Their Activities?

You might be wondering how they conduct these operations so openly. The truth is that the people running these stores are incredibly wary when it comes to their digital security (or “OpSec”).

All real deals or confidential conversations quickly go from public channels over to Telegram’s “Secret Chats.” These chats are end-to-end encrypted and can be self-destructed, meaning no trace is left behind. They mask their identities with virtual phone numbers and only use cryptocurrency to make payments. So tracing their transactions becomes almost impossible.

The focus on anonymity is what makes these channels so resilient and difficult to shut down. They can be arranged to disappear at any time.

10 Most Popular Dark Web Telegram Chat Groups and Channels – Detailed List

Now, let’s reveal a few of the most sinister corners of Telegram. But remember, this isn’t a shopping list, but rather a field guide to the digital underworld so that you know what to avoid. These groups are flourishing, which isn’t great for anyone’s online security.

1. Moon Cloud

Moon Cloud is reminiscent of a dreary and chaotic city market; the main currency being stolen digital lives. Most of the chatter occurs in English, and with over 20,000 members, it is a prominent marketplace.

The entire operation thrives on “stealer logs,” which are data leaks from malware such as LummaC2 and Redline. Think of a garden hose that sprays personal suffering with each turn of the nozzle. Each post contains another batch of compromised email addresses, passwords, IP addresses, and victims’ browser data taken from their computers.

This channel doesn’t just sell its “products;” it’s part of the cybercrime supply chain. The operators package and sell the “stealer logs” to other criminals who will use the stolen data for identity theft, targeted phishing, or simply trying to break into other people’s accounts. In fact, it is a reminder that a single malware incident can cascade into an entire ecosystem of fraud.

2. NoName057(16)

NoName057(16) is like a digital warzone. More than 1,000 active core followers communicate almost exclusively in Russian, making this group the most active pro-Russian hacktivist organization. They definitely enjoy targeting NATO countries, Ukraine, and their allies. The group specializes in disruptive DDoS attacks that take websites and services offline, which they do with confidence and consistency.

What’s notable about this group is that they are tenacious. Telegram removed the channel several times, but it keeps slipping back in, restarting operations and rebuilding its audience. The channel mixes propaganda, attack announcements, and recruitment for its DDoSia project — a clear example of how Telegram’s architecture can enable an ongoing cyber threat.

3. Heavy Metal

This channel hosts several other channels and offers the most violent and objectionable content on the platform. People often use the word as a code to avoid detection. The “videos” shared on dedicated dark-video Telegram channels are illegal in almost every country and deeply disturbing. It includes violent and exploitative materials that exist in the absorption of reality that lies far outside the realm of legality.

Telegram bans these channels fairly aggressively, but they seem to pop up again almost immediately, rebranded under a different name. Just coming across content like this can be horrifying, and possessing or distributing has extreme legal repercussions and carries decades in prison. This is an area to avoid at all costs.

4. Daisy Cloud

In the constantly chaotic world of stolen data, many criminals choose to use Daisy Cloud. The admin here is notable on dark web forums and has turned their notoriety into a massively popular Telegram channel totaling over 14,000 users. They communicate in English, and with only one stream of information – a daily feed of fresh stealer logs.

They are very fast at what they do. Every single day, they post new sets of logs, containing stolen usernames and passwords. They often provide a free set of logs to entice buyers into purchasing premium, high-value user data. Their reliability and business-like approach have established them as a trusted (as trusted as a criminal can be) source for other fraudsters who utilize the stolen data in their schemes.

5. vx-underground

VX-underground is like a curious and unique animal. As far as we know, vx-underground, with around 40,000 subscribers, serves as a vast library of malware. The channel operates in English and explores everything from source code for historical viruses to samples of the newest and most dangerous threats. The channel presents itself as a cybersecurity research resource — and analysts have indeed used it.

But who are we kidding? – Freely sharing functional malware and hacking utilities on an open-source platform like Telegram is already a very serious danger. In some ways, it is lowering the barrier to entry for motivated cybercriminals by providing free weapons in their arsenal. The foggy balance between academic research and facilitating crime also places vx-underground in the list of possibly the most controversial players on this list.

6. Omega Cloud

Omega Cloud is another significant credential-stealing organization that provides its services to over 6,000 English-speaking members around the world. Their pitch is clear: weight of numbers. They claim to deliver “thousands of new logs daily” and focus on hacked credentials from major platforms such as Google, YouTube, and advertising networks.

It operates using a free-trial model. It will continually send free samples in the channel to prove the quality of their data and generate demand for their subscription packages. For a subscription, buyers then receive nice, large curated lists of login credentials, and the collective failure of thousands of users’ security becomes a viable, strong income stream for the group.

7. Dark Storm Team

Dark Storm Team is a politically motivated hacktivist collective whose recruiting channel is its Telegram channel. While they do not always publish their member count, they communicate in Arabic and English to maximize user reach. Their feed consists of non-stop broadcasts and announcements claiming credit for attacks on government, transportation, and corporate infrastructures.

This is not just a technique for bragging; it is a form of operation. The Dark Storm Team uses their Telegram channel to market their DDoS-for-hire services, to show screenshots for proof-of-attack for credibility, and to coordinate their operations. Their existence highlights how the Telegram app has become the de facto platform for groups seeking notoriety and influence through cyber attacks.

8. The Nulled

This channel capitalizes on the huge market for pirated software, premium accounts, and cracked tools. Want a $500 photo editing suite for free? This is the type of place people go. The “Nulled Leak Telegram Channel” part is for distributing databases and leaked data from breaches. 

The downside? That “free” software is almost always bundled with some kind of malware, spyware or ransomware. You are not just doing something illegal, but you are handing your computer over to a hacker. That trade-off, saving a few bucks versus potentially losing your entire digital existence, is never worth it.

9. Data Leak Monitoring

This channel serves as a relentless, automated journalism service for the world of cybercriminals. It continuously scans the Internet to find new data breaches and instantly posts links to download the databases. The audience is large but usually invisible, with the only combatants being threat actors who utilize this intel for their attacks immediately. 

If you find your email or password here, you are in serious danger. Security professionals monitor these channels for their own work to assist in protecting individuals. This heinous act should serve as a stark reminder that just because a data breach occurs, it’s not where the hazard ends. That’s where it begins: the data is instantly weaponized on platforms like Telegram.

10. The Hidden Wiki

Starting with the name of the original Tor-based index, The Hidden Wiki on Telegram is basically the same – it is a list of categorized links. It’s a messy, crowd-sourced index with hundreds of forbidden Telegram links and bots on the platform. If you are trying to find a vendor, a hacking forum, or any other content or service, many people start their search here.

The problem with any Hidden Wiki is the lack of accountability. Anyone can offer a link, and there is no way to know if it is linking you to a legitimate discussion group, a law enforcement honeypot, or a site that will immediately hijack your device. It’s the online version of walking along a dark alley and knocking on every door.

Telegram and Cybercrime: The New Reality

Forget the Tor browser. A growing chorus of security experts and law enforcement officials is sounding the alarm that a new hub for cybercrime has emerged. And it’s not hidden on the dark web. It’s Telegram.

The Policy Change

First, let’s tackle the main elephant in the room: the drastic change that hit Telegram last year. For years, the strong commitment to privacy on the service offered a safe haven to all sorts of characters, good and bad. This security became a little shaken when Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, was arrested.

In the wake of this, Telegram changed its policies. The company immediately informed all platform users about this change through a major update. The notice outlined their new terms, which stated that they may now provide legal authorities with users’ IP addresses and phone numbers, but only if a real criminal investigation with a court order is underway. This type of data was once considered securely locked down.

Why the Criminals Chose to Stay

Did this clean up the platform overnight? Not exactly. Hyper-curated dark web monitoring reveals something really interesting: most cybercriminal channels did not pack up and leave; they stayed. There was, in fact, a massive, seemingly public embrace of Durov by these groups, who portrayed him as a defender of free speech even under duress. 

They made a calculated bet that they could continue to take advantage of Telegram’s still robust end-to-end encryption (especially for the Secret Chats) and enormous built-in audience. Why move to another site and rely on a smaller and less stable dark web forum when you can operate in plain sight with access to millions of potential users?

A New Era for Cyber Enforcement

For the good guys, the cybersecurity professionals and CTI (Cyber Threat Intelligence) analysts, this was a rallying cry. It meant that when these groups started working more closely with law enforcement and governmental agencies, they could potentially get more tangible leads than ever before. This evolution is why the very definition of “dark web monitoring” has had to expand. To understand this crucial shift in how we track digital threats, our guide on what is dark web monitoring explains the modern tools and tactics needed to scan platforms like Telegram effectively.

So, we are already starting to see the fruits of this altered strategy—operations like “DarkGram,” that led to the takedown of nearly 200 illicit channels in a single quarter, are demonstrable evidence of what’s possible.

Gone are the days when analysts merely observed; they are now intentionally merging IP and user data with other intelligence to proactively disrupt criminal networks.

The important takeaway? It is an ongoing game of cat and mouse. While the new program represents a powerful weapon for justice, the criminals are adopting the tools too – reinforcing their own operational security. They are using Bitcoin mixers and privacy-centric coins like Monero more than ever, and they have shifted towards more private communications. 

For security teams, effective and intelligent ongoing monitoring is no longer optional – it is crucial to stay a step ahead of the threat. The game has been promoted to a new and more difficult level.

The Urgent Need to Monitor Dark Web Telegram Channels

While some of the illicit Telegram channels are publicly available, the most dangerous discussions happen behind locked doors. A vast universe of secret Telegram groups exclusively gathers members through private invites shared only in certain communities on Telegram, the deep web, and the dark web. These communities create a very large blind spot for organizations. 

With so many advanced persistent threat (APT) groups and hacktivist collectives now operating openly on the platform, ignoring this ecosystem is a significant security incident waiting to happen. Telegram has evolved from a messaging app into an invaluable intelligence repository for getting information about the modern threat ecosystem.

Why Proactive Monitoring is Non-Negotiable

The simple answer is that waiting until threats hit your network is too late. The conversations on these channels often provide the warning signs of a threat long before the threat manifests itself.  Whether it may be a planned data dump, an upcoming attack, or a threat actor exploiting a new vulnerability in the wild.

By monitoring these conversations, security teams can:

• Spot targeted threats: Identify when your organization, executives, or partners are mentioned as potential targets for phishing, DDoS attacks, or data theft.
• Detect credential leaks early: Quickly find compromised employee logins or stolen corporate credentials as soon as they appear for sale, and enforce password changes before attackers can exploit them.
• Learn adversary tactics: Stay informed about the tools, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) that cybercriminals use and share with others.
• Spot new campaigns: Detect emerging trends and malware variants early, giving your team a head start in preparing effective defenses.

Getting Around the Problem with Advanced Tools

Effectively navigating Telegram’s encrypted, transient, and fragmented environment is a Herculean effort for any human team. Sifting through millions of messages across public and private channels is not just inefficient—it is impossible.

And the new 30-page user agreement isn’t going to help. Advanced threat intelligence platforms are a force multiplier here. These solutions automate this tedious process and give cybersecurity teams the following capabilities:

• Advanced threat detection: Leveraging AI to scan and flag all the relevant threats that appear in real time, from brand impersonation to mentions of critical infrastructure.  
• Credential leakage monitoring: Real-time monitoring of data dumps and stealer logs to notify you the moment your corporate assets show up.
• Deep actor profiling: Developing intelligence on specific threat actors, affiliations, and past actions to predict behavior and future plans.
• Tactical intelligence extraction: Converting unstructured and raw data into actionable reports that integrate and reflect your security workflows.

By applying continuous, automated monitoring over these covert conversations, you can move to a proactive security posture. You’re no longer flying blind; you’re flying with a spotlight that clearly shows what’s being discussed and planned against you.

Staying Safe on Telegram’s Dark Web

To be honest, avoiding these forbidden channels altogether is the best option. The dangers of crippling malware, legal consequences, financial bankruptcy, and severely disturbing content are simply too great for any curiosity based on fleeting interest.

However, if your work requires you to enter the risk-prone corner of the digital world, or you want to just take every security measure possible to get the best experience possible on Telegram, you need to arm up. The best way to protect yourself is through a combination of good tools and smart security habits. Here’s what you need to know.

1. Premium VPN

Your essential “Cloak of Anonymity.” A VPN hides your real IP address and encrypts your internet connection to the point where your actions are typically untraceable. It’s crucial to prevent threat actors from discovering who you are if you are lurking in groups or monitoring Telegram channels. We recommend NordVPN because of its zero-log policy and stealth security.

Not just NordVPN, you can pick any other provider as well if you want. But ensure it’s a quality one, only. A good and reliable VPN should have:

• No-Logs policy: The provider does not log any information related to your activity or connection. Meaning that there is effectively nothing to hand over to a third party.
• Kill Switch: If your VPN disconnects suddenly, it automatically blocks internet access to prevent your IP address from leaking.
• Threat protection/Blocker (NordVPN): Scans files as you download them and blocks malicious websites from the connection so that you can stop malware and phishing attempts before they can reach your device.
• Obfuscation servers: VPN traffic that is disguised as regular internet traffic. This bypasses VPN blocks (as platforms see your web traffic as normal internet traffic). Additionally, it hides your presence on the network, which can work against you if there are any restrictions.
• Double VPN / MultiHop: Routes your connection through two separate VPN servers instead of one, resulting in an additional layer of encryption and anonymity.
• Ad Blocker: Eliminates disruptive ads and trackers, which are often associated with malware.

2. Powerful Antivirus/Anti-Malware Software

This is your digital immune system. It runs in the background, actively scans files and programs as you open or create them, and quarantines or deletes threats like ransomware, spyware, or Trojans

Here are some key Features a good antivirus should have:

• Real-time scanning: Monitors the system constantly for malicious behavior from the moment you access or create a file.
• Phishing protection: Notifies you if you try to access a known fraudulent website designed to steal your credentials.
• Built-in firewall: Monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on security rules, establishing a barrier between your device and the internet. This helps to shield your device from harmful content on the internet.

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