Telegram offers to get a Premium subscription in exchange for sending SMS from your number

Telegram is in test mode offering customers to exchange a package of SMS messages for a Telegram Premium subscription. In particular, due to this, the messenger wants to send SMS to users for authorization in the application. According to the terms, the limit is 150 messages per month with the ability to send SMS to other countries. Russian telecom operators were outraged by the idea of ​​the messenger. They believe that they have the right to block such mailings. Cybersecurity experts add that the mechanism creates new opportunities for fraudsters.

On February 20, users of the Telegram messenger began receiving the first offers to receive a Telegram Premium subscription for a month in exchange for sending SMS from their mobile number. According to the Telegram Info channel, Indonesia was the first to receive the offer, however, according to Nikita Treshchev, the author of the O digital channel, it is also being sent to Russian users. The text says that the recipient was included in the sample of 0.01% of people registered in the messenger. In Russia alone, the number of Telegram users was 82.3 million as of October 2023. As stated in the proposal itself, the messenger needs SMS to send verification codes to users to access their account. The program is called P2PL, which translates to “peer-to-peer login program.”

The terms of use of the program on the official Telegram website say: by joining P2PL, the user agrees that the messenger can use his phone number as a “relay for a maximum of 150 SMS messages per month.” The user also agrees to bear any charges, including carrier charges, surcharges and any international SMS fees that may be charged from time to time. In return, the user receives a free Premium subscription and all its functionality (in the Russian Federation, its cost, for example, is 329 rubles per month when paid monthly and 199.16 rubles per month when paid annually), but only after reaching a “quota” of 150 SMS messages.

The head of Content Review, Sergei Polovnikov, clarifies that Telegram in different countries sets different limits for the number of SMS – 100-150 pieces: “If you delve into the rules of the new program, we are talking about exactly 100 SMS delivered, and how many will be sent is unknown. In addition, SMS can be sent to international numbers, this is a completely different tariff.”

The MegaFon press service clarified to Kommersant that most of their subscribers do not spend their SMS packages, but if messages are sent abroad, “they will be charged separately.” “Such SMS are charged according to the client’s tariff plan,” Tele2 added. The operator’s current tariff line does not contain SMS packages, with the exception of premium tariffs.

Tele2 calls the scheme proposed by Telegram illegitimate: “The client is obliged to use communication services personally, without transferring access to third parties.” Such SMS can be blocked by the operator, Tele2 said. MTS and VimpelCom did not respond to requests.

An industry source clarified that automated SMS distribution should be carried out on the basis of an agreement between its customer and the operator. The customer, which in this case should be Telegram, guarantees that the recipients have consented to receiving messages, and the operator is obliged to ensure the confidentiality and security of their data. “As for paying for mailings at the expense of subscribers, this will most likely be a violation of the contract with the operator, since SMS packages are not an item for resale,” Kommersant’s interlocutor is sure.

Sergey Polovnikov adds that operators may perceive such a subscriber as a spammer due to the automatic sending of SMS and block it. Kommersant’s interlocutor in the cybersecurity market adds that sending SMS not on behalf of Telegram, but from an unfamiliar number can “provoke a surge in fraud and spam.” For example, sending fictitious links to “free Premium offers” from familiar mobile numbers, supposedly from Telegram, behind which fraudulent sites may be hiding.

Tatiana Isakova, Alexey Zhabin