{"id":9528,"date":"2026-06-02T17:06:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/?p=9528"},"modified":"2026-06-02T17:07:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:07:30","slug":"ton-gram-scams-avoid-fake-telegram-crypto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/ton-gram-scams-avoid-fake-telegram-crypto","title":{"rendered":"TON and Gram scams: How to avoid fake Telegram crypto tokens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TON is a real blockchain ecosystem. Gram is a historically loaded name. That mix is exactly why fake Telegram channels, clone bots, and \u201cearly access\u201d token pages are dangerous right now. If a page asks for your seed phrase, pressures you to claim fast, or sells something called Gram without a clear verification trail, treat it as a scam until proven otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key takeaways:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gram is not automatically the same thing as Toncoin. The original Telegram \u201cGram\u201d token was stopped after the SEC case, while Toncoin (TON) is the live asset used in The Open Network today.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The current risk is confusion. Scammers can use Telegram branding, old Gram history and TON hype to make fake offers look familiar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Official-looking Telegram channels are not proof. Clone channels and bots can copy names, logos, pinned posts and support scripts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A real support team will never ask for your seed phrase. Recovery phrases are not for \u201cverification,\u201d \u201cactivation,\u201d or \u201cairdrop eligibility.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Before touching any TON or Gram-related offer, verify the asset, the network, the source and the wallet action.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you want TON exposure, make sure you are buying verified Toncoin through a route you trust, not a lookalike asset riding the news cycle.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Scam check: do this before you click a TON or Gram link<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the part worth saving. Most TON\/Gram scams do not start with advanced hacking. They start with a user trusting a familiar-looking Telegram post too quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Check<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>What to look for<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Asset name<\/strong><\/td><td>If the offer says \u201cGram,\u201d ask what it actually is: Toncoin, a mini-app point, a new token contract, or just a marketing word.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Official path<\/strong><\/td><td>Open official pages yourself. Do not rely on forwarded Telegram links, screenshots, or DMs from \u201csupport.\u201d<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Wallet request<\/strong><\/td><td>Stop immediately if the page asks for a seed phrase, private key, \u201cbackup code,\u201d or unlimited token approvals.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Time pressure<\/strong><\/td><td>\u201cClaim in 10 minutes,\u201d \u201cprivate sale closes now,\u201d and \u201conly early Telegram users qualify\u201d are classic pressure tactics.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Domain and bot name<\/strong><\/td><td>Look for one-character domain swaps, extra underscores, unofficial bot handles and recently created channels.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Transaction test<\/strong><\/td><td>If you still decide to proceed, use a separate wallet and test with a tiny amount first. Never test with your main wallet.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why TON and Gram are easy to weaponize in scams<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TON has the one thing most crypto projects never get: distribution through Telegram. That is why users pay attention when TON or Gram appears in the news. It is also why scammers pay attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The naming history is messy enough to exploit. Telegram originally raised money for a blockchain project and planned token called Gram. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission later stopped the token sale, and Telegram agreed to return more than $1.2 billion to investors and pay an $18.5 million civil penalty, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/2020-146\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SEC settlement announcement<\/a>. The current ecosystem is The Open Network, and its native coin is Toncoin (TON).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scammers love that gap between what users remember and what exists today. A fake page does not need to explain the full history. It only needs to make someone think: \u201cThis sounds like Telegram. Maybe it is official.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What the latest warnings say<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The scam angle is not theoretical. A <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/toncoin_rus\/2044\" rel=\"nofollow\">TON Community warning on Telegram<\/a> flagged Gram-related scam activity. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/wublockchainenglish\/24580\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wu Blockchain also amplified the warning<\/a>, and its <a href=\"https:\/\/wublockchain.xyz\/news\/news-19381\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">separate write-up<\/a> framed the issue as a user-protection risk around Gram confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That matters because Telegram is already a common hunting ground for crypto manipulation. Research on Telegram channels has documented fake and clone channels impersonating known services, and crypto-market research has found pump-and-dump and Ponzi activity across Telegram and Discord communities. In plain English: a scammer does not need a sophisticated exploit when the channel, bot, and story already feel familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Where users usually get trapped<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fake \u201cofficial Gram\u201d launches. <\/strong>A channel claims Gram is back and uses Telegram, TON Foundation, or Pavel Durov references to create legitimacy. The bait is usually early access, a private allocation, or a \u201cmissed your chance in 2018\u201d story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Airdrop and claim pages. <\/strong>The page asks users to connect a wallet, approve a transaction, pay an activation fee, or enter a recovery phrase. The small fee is often not the main loss. The dangerous part is the wallet permission or seed phrase request.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Clone Telegram bots. <\/strong>A bot can copy a name, logo, and onboarding flow. The only thing it cannot copy is a clean verification trail from official sources.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>DM \u201csupport.\u201d <\/strong>A user asks a question in a public chat, then an impersonator sends a private message offering help. Real support does not need your seed phrase or private key.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lookalike domains. One extra letter, a hyphen, or a changed top-level domain can be enough. In crypto, users should type or bookmark known URLs instead of clicking links from chats.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to learn more about what&#8217;s happening to TON, read our <a href=\"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/telegram-ton-toncoin-2026\">Toncoin (TON) 2026<\/a> article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Gram vs TON vs Toncoin: the simple version<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Term<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>What it means<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Status<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Scam risk<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Gram<\/strong><\/td><td>Telegram\u2019s original planned token name<\/td><td>Historical; the original sale was stopped<\/td><td>High, because the name is familiar and easy to reuse<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>TON<\/strong><\/td><td>Ticker commonly used for Toncoin<\/td><td>Live crypto asset<\/td><td>Medium, mainly from fake purchase routes and impersonation<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>The Open Network<\/strong><\/td><td>The blockchain ecosystem associated with Toncoin<\/td><td>Live network<\/td><td>Medium, mainly from fake apps, bots and domains<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How to verify a TON-related offer without overthinking it<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Start with the asset. If a page says Gram, do not assume it means TON. Find the contract, ticker, network and official documentation. If those are missing, the answer is already clear enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then verify the route. Open the website yourself, preferably from a bookmarked or official source. Be careful with Telegram links, especially links sent in private messages after you posted in a public group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, read the wallet action. \u201cConnect wallet\u201d is not a harmless button. It can lead to approvals, malicious signatures or drainers. If the transaction asks for broad permissions, unlimited approvals or any recovery phrase, stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Should users buy TON because Gram is trending?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No serious crypto analyst should answer that with a simple yes. TON has a real adoption story through Telegram-linked wallets, apps and payments. It also has the same problem every hyped crypto asset has: the louder the story gets, the more impersonators show up around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A cleaner decision is this: if a user wants TON exposure, they should buy the verified Toncoin asset through a trusted route. If the decision is based on a Telegram post promising \u201cthe new Gram,\u201d it deserves much more skepticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-3e41869c wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/buy-ton\"><strong>Buy TON safely with Guardarian<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bottom line<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TON is interesting because it connects a live blockchain ecosystem with Telegram\u2019s huge user base. Gram is interesting because it is the old name people still remember. Scammers care about both facts because recognition lowers suspicion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The safest habit is simple: treat every Gram offer as unverified until proven otherwise, buy only the verified TON asset if that is what you actually want, and never let Telegram familiarity replace basic wallet hygiene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Disclaimer:<\/strong> This article is for educational purposes only and should not be treated as financial, legal or security advice. Crypto projects, token contracts, wallet interfaces and scam tactics can change quickly. Always verify information independently through official project channels, trusted block explorers and your own wallet before sending funds or connecting to any website. Guardarian does not endorse unofficial tokens, Telegram groups or third-party links that imitate TON, Gram or Telegram.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>FAQ<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Is Gram the same as Toncoin?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. Gram was the original planned token for Telegram Open Network. Toncoin, ticker TON, is the live native coin of The Open Network today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Can I still buy Gram?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Be careful. In most current searches, users who say \u201cbuy Gram\u201d usually mean Toncoin. Any current token using the Gram name should be treated as a separate asset and verified independently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Is TON owned by Telegram?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TON came from Telegram\u2019s original blockchain project, but the current network is community-led. Telegram remains important for distribution and product integrations, but that does not make every TON or Gram-branded page official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is the biggest TON scam risk right now?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The biggest risk is impersonation: fake Telegram channels, bots, airdrops, claim pages and tokens using the Gram name to look connected to Telegram or TON.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How do I avoid fake Gram or TON scams?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verify the asset, network, source and wallet action. Do not connect your wallet to random claim pages, never share a seed phrase, and avoid links sent by strangers in Telegram DMs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gram is back in crypto searches, and scammers are using the confusion. Learn how TON, Toncoin and Gram differ, how fake Telegram crypto scams work, and how to verify TON safely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":9529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[174,109,159],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency-news-and-insights","category-academy-and-crypto-guides","category-security-and-compliance"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/How-to-avoid-TON-and-Gram-scams-scaled.jpg",2560,511,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/How-to-avoid-TON-and-Gram-scams-300x60.jpg",300,60,true],"medium":["https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/How-to-avoid-TON-and-Gram-scams-scaled.jpg",2560,511,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/How-to-avoid-TON-and-Gram-scams-768x153.jpg",768,153,true],"large":["https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/How-to-avoid-TON-and-Gram-scams-1920x383.jpg",1920,383,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/How-to-avoid-TON-and-Gram-scams-1536x307.jpg",1536,307,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/How-to-avoid-TON-and-Gram-scams-2048x409.jpg",2048,409,true],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/How-to-avoid-TON-and-Gram-scams-45x45.jpg",45,45,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Daria Liukshina","author_link":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/author\/daria-liukshina"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Gram is back in crypto searches, and scammers are using the confusion. Learn how TON, Toncoin and Gram differ, how fake Telegram crypto scams work, and how to verify TON safely.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9528"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9531,"href":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9528\/revisions\/9531"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardarian.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}