PANews reported on July 21 that Telegram founder Pavel Durov had just posted on his channel that the price of rare usernames, digital IDs and gifts had soared to over $100,000, attracting criminals to extort user assets through blackmail and threats. Some channels even charged for deleting posts after defamation as a means of profit. He stressed that such behavior was "illegal and immoral" and Telegram would resolutely remove such perpetrators, and called on victims to send private messages to report and provide evidence.