One of the world’s biggest marketplaces for fraudsters appears to be closing down its Telegram operations following sweeping sanctions imposed by the US and UK.
London-based blockchain analytics company Elliptic revealed that Tudou Guarantee, which has become a staple of the massive Southeast Asia scam economy, is closing its groups on the social/messaging platform.
“Other parts of Tudou Guarantee, such as its gambling operations, continue to function, so it remains to be seen whether this represents the first stages of a full shutdown or a pivot away from fraud-related activity,” explained Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson.
Tudou Guarantee has processed an estimated $12bn in transactions since it was launched in 2023, making it the third-largest scam marketplace of all time, Robinson claimed.
Tudou Guarantee owes much of its success to Huione Guarantee, which was closed down by Telegram in May 2025, having processed over $27bn in transactions.
According to Robinson, it directed its merchants to migrate to Tudou, where they continued to offer stolen data, infrastructure, money laundering and other services to fuel the burgeoning fraud industry. The move was well planned, with Huione Guarantee apparently acquiring a 30% stake in its successor in December 2024.
Read more on scam marketplaces: Huione Guarantee Marketplace Exposed as Front for Cybercrime
Elliptic has linked the impending collapse of Tudou Guarantee to November 2025 sanctions imposed by the UK and US on Prince Group.
The nations designated the company a “transnational criminal organization” using forced labor and human trafficking in at least 10 scam compounds in Cambodia. Its chairman, Chen Zhi, was described by the UK government as “the leader of the network.”
“Law enforcement activity targeting scam compounds in Cambodia surged in the second half of 2025, culminating on January 6th 2026, with the joint Cambodian/Chinese arrest and extradition of Chen Zhi to China, where he faces prosecution,” Robinson continued.
“Elliptic's real-time monitoring of Tudou's central administrative wallets shows a sudden drop in activity in the following days, suggesting a link to the arrest.”
Filling the Vacuum
According to Elliptic, merchants on Tudou Guarantee used to provide the following to their clients:
- Crypto-to-fiat money laundering designed to help scammers cash out proceeds from their campaigns
- Stolen personally identifiable information (PII) including identity documents, bank account details and phone numbers which could be used to target victims with phishing efforts
- Infrastructure including pre-built investment fraud platforms, fake trading interfaces and phishing websites, enabling opportunistic criminals to cash in on digital fraud
- AI-powered face-swapping, voice-cloning and deepfake technology to help scammers conduct video calls impersonating other personas
Unfortunately, the disappearance of Tudou Guarantee and sanctions on Prince Group are unlikely to mean a permanent decline in global fraud.
“Following Huione Guarantee's shutdown, Elliptic observed rapid migration to Tudou and other marketplaces,” said Robinson. “We expect a similar pattern now, with activity dispersing across dozens of guarantee marketplaces we currently track as well as new entrants seeking to capture Tudou’s displaced merchants and customers.”
Although this might make scam marketplaces harder to track at first, the advantage lies with investigators, he claimed.
“Every crypto-asset transaction on these giant scam platforms creates a permanent record on the blockchain,” Robinson concluded. “The same transparency that allowed Elliptic to trace $12bn in activity through Tudou will allow us and government investigators to track where that activity migrates next.”