Posted on 27/10/24 01:45 pm
Telegram is one of the most popular social networks in the world. This year, it surpassed 700 million users, and this number will continue to grow rapidly. Telegram accounts are known for being one of the safest social networks, which is why people use it with confidence.
However, there is one significant problem: Telegram accounts are often targeted by spammers, scammers, and hackers. Let’s learn how to protect ourselves from data leaks, spam, unwanted marketing, and any negative experiences while using the app.
This article will help you understand:
Telegram is a globally accessible, freemium, cross-platform, cloud-based instant messaging (IM) service. It also provides optional end-to-end encrypted chats, video calling, VoIP, file sharing, and many other features. Telegram was launched for iOS on August 14, 2013, and for Android on October 20, 2013. The servers of Telegram are distributed worldwide across five data centers in different regions, while its operations center is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Various client apps are available for desktop and mobile platforms, including official apps for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux (although registration requires an iOS or Android device and a working phone number). There are also two official Telegram web apps, WebK and WebZ, as well as numerous unofficial clients that utilize Telegram’s protocol. All of Telegram’s official components are open-source, except for the server, which is closed-source and proprietary.
All this makes us confident in Telegram’s safety. However, do we really need to store personal data there? No! I’ll explain how to avoid it.
Your data will be more secure if you don’t store it on the app. Here’s a breakdown of the types of personal data you may have:
If you know how to protect the first five types of data, that's great. But the main challenge is with the phone number. Telegram requires it to send an OTP when you sign up. You might think you have to use your own SIM card, but doing so can lead to spam messages, and your contacts may see that you’re on Telegram.
Fortunately, there is a way to prevent this kind of privacy issue. The solution is to use a fake or virtual phone number.
A fake or virtual phone number is a number without an owner. There is no person assigned to it, so it can be shared between users. Fake phone numbers allow you to receive SMS, make calls, send SMS, and more. Essentially, it’s a phone number without a physical SIM.
Sounds interesting, right? If this concept seems a bit complex, don’t worry. In the next section, I’ll explain how to get and use a virtual phone number.
There are many fake phone number providers, but I recommend SMSOTPVERIFY, one of the largest providers of virtual phone numbers in the world. Here, you can buy virtual phone numbers from over 150 countries and for more than 2,000 apps.
The service is straightforward: just sign up, top up your balance, choose a country and service, and buy a number to receive an OTP, typically for less than $1. I'll walk you through the process next.
This guide will help you sign up for your private Telegram account in just a few minutes:
That’s all! Now you can confidently use your new Telegram account without worrying that your phone number might fall into the wrong hands.