The bot offers full personal profiles by simply entering a mobile number.
Data sold includes Aadhaar, PAN, voter ID, address, and family details.
Prices start at Rs 99 per search, with bulk plans going up to Rs 4,999.
Your data — be it phone number, address, father’s name and more is at risk and selling for as low as Rs 99. The culprit? A Telegram bot allowed to operate without any action. The Digit team has recently discovered a Telegram bot which is selling the data of Indian users for as low as Rs 99.
SurveySo, if you thought that enabling Two Factor Authentication, and blocking spam numbers will keep you safe in the expanding digital space, I’m sorry, you’re mistaken. While we have seen data leaks and piracy cases before, this one is way more dangerous.
This bot (which we will not name to avoid any misuse) is openly selling access to highly sensitive information about Indian citizens, such as Aadhaar numbers, addresses, father’s name, and alternate phone numbers, by simply entering their mobile numbers.
How did we find this bot?
It all began with a tip: a Telegram bot offering to provide personal information in exchange for a small fee. We were curious, so we investigated, and what we discovered was chilling. The bot claims to offer complete personal profiles based on a mobile number. What appeared to be another Truecaller-style tool quickly turned out to be far more invasive. The bot’s rate card begins at Rs 99 per search and goes up to Rs 4,999 for monthly unlimited access.
To verify the claims, our reporter signed up for the service, entered their own phone number, and received a shockingly detailed report within seconds: Full name, father’s name, current and previous addresses, alternate contact numbers, and Aadhaar information. In other cases, the bot was able to reveal voter ID and PAN card numbers as well.
Public data, private profit
When we dug deeper, we discovered that the bot delivered results with high accuracy, all in under two seconds. What was even more disturbing is that this information is not outdated or unverifiable. We ran several searches on the bot, and the results appeared to be recent, with some being 3 to 4 years old. The data was specific enough to facilitate identity theft, fraudulent KYC registrations, and loan scams.
Where is this data coming from?
This bot’s data was probably gathered over many years from a variety of breaches involving public utilities, fintech apps, and telecom companies. It seems to retrieve information from a hidden database, which could be hosted on a dark web repository or private server.
This can be a national security risk
The consequences are huge, including the fact that your data is being treated like a product and is being bought and sold through messaging apps that provide encryption but little accountability, as well as the identity data of Indian citizens. Fake KYC procedures, fraudulent loans, bank account access, SIM card cloning or porting, creating false digital identities, and harassing or targeting families are all possible uses for this bot if it is accessed by malicious actors.
While transparency is important, we have decided not to share the name or link to this bot. Our goal is to raise awareness, not facilitate criminal activity. What matters is not the name of a single Telegram bot, but the expanding ecosystem that enables such tools to exist, thrive, and profit.
How to be safe
While complete protection in today’s digital world may be difficult, individuals can take a few important steps to safeguard their personal data:
- Lock your Aadhaar through the official UIDAI website
- Only visit credible websites while surfing the internet
- Never share OTPs or sensitive verification details over calls
- Be cautious of unsolicited SIM porting or fake KYC requests
- Audit your online presence, remove unnecessary personal details from public platforms
- Report any cyber fraud immediately by calling 1930 or visiting cybercrime.gov.in
It’s surprising that such bots are available on Telegram and there seems to be no action against them. In the past, many bots have been involved in piracy and other malicious activities. Yet, no strict steps have been taken.
Update: Telegram has informed Digit that this bot has been removed. When we checked, the bot was unable to fetch information.
Note: This story is exclusively done by our Digit Hindi colleague Sudhanshu Shubham. You can click here to read the original story.
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Ashish Singh
Ashish Singh is the Chief Copy Editor at Digit. He's been wrangling tech jargon since 2020 (Times Internet, Jagran English '22). When not policing commas, he's likely fueling his gadget habit with coffee, strategising his next virtual race, or plotting a road trip to test the latest in-car tech. He speaks fluent Geek. View Full Profile
