Lookalike Telegram channels: who uses the names of 26 brands
Anyone can name a Telegram channel after a famous brand, and many do: fans, resellers, deal hunters and scammers. We counted the public channels that use the names of 26 brands people look for on Telegram and checked how old they are, how big, and whether Telegram verified any of them.
- 19,550 public channels use one of these 26 names. The most copied is PUBG Mobile: 2,762 channels.
- Only 12 of the 26 brands have a channel with Telegram's verification badge in our data, while Telegram itself marks 18 of the channels as scam or fake.
- 81 channels called ChatGPT and 60 called Notcoin are older than ChatGPT and Notcoin themselves: they were renamed after the hype.
A brand's name in a channel title says nothing about who runs it. Most of these channels are not impersonators: they are fan clubs, clan chats, deal channels and news feeds. But the same search results are where phishing and fake giveaways wait, and a channel that changed its name to ride a trend looks no different from one created for it. Each page below lists what our data shows and how to check a channel yourself.
Crypto exchanges
| Brand | Channels using the name | Over 1,000 subscribers | Verified | Flagged by Telegram | Created after May 2024 | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | 1,141 | 349 | 8 | 6 | 23% | @binance_moonbix_announcements 3.2M |
| Bybit | 123 | 44 | — | 1 | 31% | @bybit_announcements 457K |
| OKX | 32 | 16 | 1 | — | 32% | @okx_ru 4.9M |
| Bitget | 61 | 40 | — | — | 24% | @bitget_wallet_announcement 5M |
| KuCoin | 68 | 35 | 1 | — | 11% | @xkucoinchannel 658K |
| MEXC | 59 | 24 | — | — | 35% | @mexcofficialnews 108K |
Tap-to-earn games
| Brand | Channels using the name | Over 1,000 subscribers | Verified | Flagged by Telegram | Created after May 2024 | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notcoin | 801 | 143 | — | 1 | 20% | @notcoin 9.9M |
| Hamster Kombat | 139 | 42 | — | — | 43% | @hamster_kombat 24.3M |
| Blum | 263 | 45 | — | 1 | 35% | @blumcrypto 17.9M |
| TapSwap | 224 | 61 | — | — | 42% | @tapswapai 12M |
| X Empire | 55 | 17 | 1 | — | 47% | @notempire 10M |
AI products
| Brand | Channels using the name | Over 1,000 subscribers | Verified | Flagged by Telegram | Created after May 2024 | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 1,061 | 212 | 2 | 1 | 10% | @gptmainnews 2.1M |
| DeepSeek | 32 | 21 | — | — | 65% | @chatgpti 558K |
Games
| Brand | Channels using the name | Over 1,000 subscribers | Verified | Flagged by Telegram | Created after May 2024 | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PUBG Mobile | 2,762 | 647 | 3 | 1 | 30% | @official_pubgmobile_ru 345K |
| Standoff 2 | 1,284 | 354 | 2 | 2 | 32% | @play_standoff2 1.7M |
| Roblox | 1,475 | 290 | 1 | 1 | 57% | @roblru 1.5M |
| Genshin Impact | 1,311 | 322 | 2 | — | 14% | @vanileaks 643K |
| Brawl Stars | 688 | 121 | — | — | 28% | @bsdatamines 491K |
| Free Fire | 990 | 133 | 1 | — | 46% | @frifasbr 85K |
| Fortnite | 278 | 53 | — | — | 15% | @fortnite_kh 122K |
| Clash of Clans | 86 | 19 | — | — | 17% | @cocsell 75K |
Marketplaces and shops
| Brand | Channels using the name | Over 1,000 subscribers | Verified | Flagged by Telegram | Created after May 2024 | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildberries | 2,603 | 792 | — | — | 7% | @wildberriesru_official 532K |
| Ozon | 2,238 | 668 | 2 | 3 | 14% | @ozonru 1.1M |
| AliExpress | 1,554 | 408 | 1 | 1 | 4% | @abualiexpress 593K |
| Temu | 33 | 15 | — | — | 64% | @temu_ai 114K |
| Shein | 189 | 42 | — | — | 18% | @offerte_abbigliamento_e 41K |
Channels older than their name
Telegram channel IDs show when a channel was created. For brands with a known launch date we counted the channels created before the brand existed. They can only have taken the name later: 81 called ChatGPT (launched November 2022), 60 called Notcoin (launched November 2023), 15 called Hamster Kombat (launched March 2024), 5 called DeepSeek (launched July 2023), 4 called Binance (launched July 2017), 4 called Genshin Impact (launched September 2020), 2 called Bybit (launched March 2018) and 2 called Temu (launched September 2022). The method is described in our research on channel IDs.
Check a channel
The creation date checker dates any channel from its ID, the channel audit shows how many subscribers actually read it, and the network checker shows which channels share its ad contact.
Method
A channel counts toward a brand if its name contains the brand as a word or its username contains it; short names such as OKX or Temu must stand alone in the username. Groups and adult channels are left out. Channels were observed between April 2026 and August 2026. Verification is known only for part of the channels. We do not say which channel is official.