Greetings, dear readers! Continuing the SHX article series, in this article, we decided to focus in more detail on OSINT bots in Telegram, as in many cases they are no less effective than common OSINT tools. The OSINT bots discussed in this article will mainly concern reconnaissance on Telegram users. This material has been edited and republished due to being blocked by Roskomnadzor in the Russian Federation.
Useful OSINT tools in Telegram (always working links)
Disclaimer: All data provided in this article is taken from open sources. It does not call for action and is provided for informational purposes only, and for studying the mechanisms of the technologies used.
Userbox
UsersBox is a Telegram bot designed to search for information from data leaks and breaches. Thanks to its high functionality, the bot can search by various criteria, such as full name, nicknames, phone numbers, email addresses, and social media profiles. A special feature of UsersBox is its database of all known leaks and hacks.
Working with the bot
It might seem like just another analog of a well-known bot, but that's not the case. The bot has very extensive databases and provides significantly more information than the bot-that-must-not-be-named.
Using the command /about you can see which databases the bot uses, and as we can see, the list of databases is quite large.
As for the search, the full-text engine allows you to search for any words in any order, and also provides the ability to search by phone number, email, username, full name, address, IP address, and social network link. The search is as convenient as possible, and when displaying the results, it shows which database the information was taken from.
The bot also has a function to delete data about yourself, a referral system, and API integration for your projects. For integration into your applications, there is a full list of methods, which is described in more detail in the official documentation.
A very interesting and cool solution from the developers, because now enthusiasts with their own infrastructure, with their own secure network, messenger, cloud storage, and everything else, can integrate the databases of userbox into their projects for a reasonable price.
As for the prices for the plans, they are much more reasonable compared to the bot-that-must-not-be-named. It's clear from the screenshots that we also got a 50% discount, but even compared to the regular (crossed-out) prices, they are significantly more favorable than the prices for plans in that other bot.
UserBox, like similar bots, can accept payments via cryptocurrency, which is a big plus for clients who value and care about their privacy.
A wide list of cryptocurrencies is available for payment, but in the future, we would like to see Monero on this list.
In conclusion about this bot, we found that among bots similar to that other bot, UserBox is the best option. It has more databases, is actively supported and regularly updated, is the most budget-friendly option in terms of plans, and the API integration will please developers.
Unamer
Unamer is a bot that helps you find out the history of usernames and find people by name, simply by sending a contact, @username, Telegram ID, a forwarded message, or a phone number.
Usage
The bot has its own currency of 'Admit One' tickets, which are given out when you first enter the bot in a certain amount to test its capabilities. There is also a fair payment system for search queries, meaning if the bot doesn't find any information, your balance will not be charged.
For example, here a search is being performed by nickname, and it shows us information about the account creation date, the last known username, and information available in the database for the target account.
Let's try to search the account history, this will cost 10 tickets.
Such a picture usually means a big score for a competent intelligence officer! This way, you can investigate each nickname and find more and more accounts of the target subject.
Also, what I really liked about using it was the ability to reveal the account's phone number, although this will cost 10 tickets.
Thus, we obtained information about the target's list of nicknames, which can be used for additional searches, and a full phone number, almost for free, which will significantly simplify further investigation.
SangMata
A bot that can track changes in name and username and notify you about it in your group.
Usage
If you are a group administrator, you can add this bot. Be sure to grant the SangMata bot administrator rights with the 'Manage Group' permission so that it can function correctly.
If you need to request a user's history, you can do it in several ways. You can forward a message from the user, enter and send their ID or username, or use the 'history' or 'allhistory' commands.
For users who don't donate, this bot will be free for one request per day, which, however, compared to Unamer is quite good. But the catch is that you need to add the user you want to check to the group in addition to the bot itself, so it's better to act from a fake account.
Conclusion
Useful OSINT tools in Telegram (always working links)
In this article, we have reviewed various Telegram bots for OSINT reconnaissance. Each has its own unique functionality and operating principle, and these bots can be used in diverse and creative ways. For example, UserBox as a database for your application, Unamer as an offensive bot for Telegram account reconnaissance, as well as SangMata. Of course, the bots Unamer and SangMata have some limitations for those who do not donate, but this does not prevent them from being useful in OSINT.