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Telegram Privacy & Scam Prevention Guide: Safe Shopping in Deal Channels

Telegram has become one of the central platforms for sharing real-time deals, secret coupons, and consumer updates. The ability to set up one-way channels hosting tens of thousands of users allows teams like The Upgraders to deliver the hottest deals from AliExpress at unprecedented speeds. However, Telegram's popularity also attracts malicious actors who try to exploit users through impersonator bots, phishing scams, and fake coupons. In this professional guide, the security research team at Lumière Labs presents critical rules for safe browsing and shopping on Telegram.

1. Hiding Your Phone Number and Configuring a Personal Username

The big advantage of Telegram over WhatsApp is the ability to operate under a unique Username without exposing your personal phone number to other members or channel administrators. To ensure your phone number remains fully protected, configure the following settings in the app immediately:

• Set Phone Number to 'Nobody': Go to Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Phone Number, and set "Who can see my phone number" to "Nobody". This prevents third parties, bots, or automated scrapers from linking your account to an active mobile number.
• Restrict Calls and Group Invitations: Under Privacy and Security -> Groups & Channels, set "Who can add me" to "My Contacts" only. This prevents malicious advertising bots from forcibly adding you to spam, gambling, or fictitious investment channels.
• Secure Your Account with Two-Step Verification: Go to Privacy and Security -> Two-Step Verification and set a strong password in addition to the one-time SMS code. This protection prevents hijacking of your account even in the case of sophisticated phishing attempts.

2. Identifying Malicious Bots and Coupon Phishing Scams

The Telegram network is saturated with automated bots promising gift coupons or asking you to log in with your Telegram account to receive a special discount. Here are some golden rules to avoid scams:

• Do not log into your account through unofficial bots: Many bots display a fake Telegram login screen and ask you to enter your verification code to 'claim the coupon'. Giving away this code gives attackers full access to your account. The Upgraders channels do not use bots that require access permissions or personal logins.
• Identify fake links: Many scams distribute links that mimic the official AliExpress website (for example, ali-express-deal.com instead of aliexpress.com). Always pay attention to the address bar in your browser and make sure you are on the official and secure website.
• Analyze script-free clean links: Our content managers manually clean every link published in the channels from unnecessary tracking parameters and cross-tracking codes, ensuring you are not exposed to malicious cookies or adware.

3. The Upgraders' Filtering & Verification Standards

To provide you with the best and safest shopping experience, every recommendation and channel in The Upgraders network is subject to strict standards from Lumière Labs:

1. Rigorous Store Reliability Checks: We monitor the positive feedback rating of stores and only publish links from stores with at least one year of tenure and a rating of 95% or higher.
2. Preventing Consumer Noise: Unlike other channels that bombard you with automated links every few minutes, we limit the daily post count and perform a strict selection of the most cost-effective products.
3. Dynamic Update of Expired Coupons: Our system dynamically detects and marks links where the promotion has ended or stock has run out, saving you from failed purchase attempts.