The story of downloading Telegram in a .rar format is often one of deception. In one major campaign, attackers distributed a malicious installer disguised as a legitimate setup file.

Another interesting, real-world scenario involves the legitimate use of .rar files within the app. One user reported a strange "Trojan alert" after downloading their own password database—stored as a .rar file in their —onto a new laptop.

: Specialized malware like TeleGrab specifically targets the desktop version's cache. By downloading a malicious .rar , users have inadvertently handed over their session "keys," allowing hackers to clone their entire Telegram account onto a different machine without needing a login code.

: The file was clean on the original PC, but the act of downloading it from a cloud server triggered a "false positive" alert because security software often treats newly downloaded archives from messaging apps with extreme suspicion. Why the .rar is a Red Flag

: Instead of just installing the chat app, the file executed a script that dropped the Purple Fox malware . This "fileless" threat ran directly in the system's memory (RAM), making it nearly invisible to traditional antivirus software.

: Windows Defender flagged the file as a "Wacatac" or "Sabsik" Trojan only after it was downloaded through the Telegram Desktop client.