15 months for fake staking: how a Telegram scammer defrauded investors of $1.4 million
New York scammer Noman Salim has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for a large-scale fraud scheme in which he impersonated well-known crypto influencers. The scheme, which operated from December 2020 to March 2021, netted the perpetrator at least $1.4 million in cryptocurrency and fiat dollars.
Salim's method was cynically simple but effective. He copied the usernames of popular crypto opinion leaders on Telegram, creating fake public channels. Trusting users subscribed by the thousands, believing they were communicating with real experts. The scammer then created paid VIP chats with access costing $500–600 in cryptocurrency, where victims could write to him directly.
How the scheme worked
After building a critical mass of subscribers, Salim launched a second identical channel under the name of another influencer, expanding his audience. Victims were offered staking with fixed returns for periods ranging from 30 to 90 days. Larger investors were promised higher payouts. However, there were no real investments — the acquired assets simply ended up in wallets controlled by the scammer. As soon as the funds arrived, Salim cut off communication and disappeared.
Prosecutors noted that Salim returned most of the stolen funds to the state as part of a plea deal. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow also imposed three years of supervised release after his prison term. Salim pleaded guilty in September 2025.
Analyst's comment: This case is a stark reminder that in the crypto industry, trust in public figures must be backed by verification through official channels. Telegram's anonymity and the irreversibility of transactions make such schemes particularly dangerous. U.S. authorities are showing they are willing to pursue scammers even behind crypto wallets, but the best defense remains the investor's own vigilance.