Introduction
Greetings, dear readers! Continuing the SH article series, in this article we decided to focus in more detail on OSINT bots in Telegram, as in many cases they are no worse and more effective than common OSINT tools. The OSINT bots discussed in this article will mainly concern reconnaissance on Telegram users.
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 Eye of God clone, but it's not that simple. The bot has very extensive databases and provides significantly more information than Eye of God.
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 perform a search by 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 very convenient, and the output shows which database the information was taken from.
The bot also has a function to delete your own data, 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.
This is 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 Userbox databases into their projects for a reasonable price.
As for the prices of the plans, they are much more reasonable compared to Eye of God. 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 Eye of God's plans.
UserBox just 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 Eye of God, 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 in a certain amount when you first enter the bot 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 is a search 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 perform a search of 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 phone number disclosure feature for an account, but it will cost 10 tickets.
Thus, we received 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 name and username changes and notify you about them 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, is quite good compared to Unamer. 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
In this article, we have reviewed various Telegram bots for OSINT reconnaissance, each with 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, just like 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.
More useful articles on the topic:
- Analysis of Telegram Accounts
- Bots and services for data reconnaissance on VKontakte
- Automating Telegram account search by number. Simple people search via Telegram
- Search by email and nickname
- OSINT: Reconnaissance in EUROPE