Photography communities on Telegram are full of good work: street shots, landscapes, film scans and gear advice. Members share their best images and ask for honest feedback. Unfortunately, these groups attract a specific kind of spam: accounts that steal photos to repost elsewhere, fake “feature pages” that charge for exposure, and endless ads for presets, cheap gear and “pro” editing courses.

This guide helps photography group admins keep the group a safe place to share work.

The problems photography groups face

Photo theft. Images posted in the group are downloaded and reposted on other accounts, sometimes sold as stock or prints.
Fake feature accounts. A stranger messages a member: “Your photo was selected for our feature page with 500k followers. Pay a small fee to publish.” Often the page does not exist, or the fee buys nothing.
Contest scams. “Enter our international photo contest” with a paid entry fee and no real judges or prizes.
Preset and course spam. Repeated ads for editing presets, “secret” Lightroom packs or courses, often with discount codes.
Gear scams. Cameras and lenses offered far below market price, with payment requested up front.

Step 1: Set rules about sharing and credit

Start with clear rules that respect photographers:

Share only your own photos, or clearly credit the photographer with their permission.
No reposting other members’ photos outside the group without asking.
No selling presets, courses or services in the main chat.
Gear sales only in the weekly marketplace thread, and no payment before inspection where possible.
Critique the photo, not the person.

Pin the rules and include them in your welcome message.

Step 2: Help members protect their images

Admins cannot stop every download, but members can reduce the risk:

Share smaller files. A long side of around 1600 to 2000 pixels is enough for feedback and too small for large prints.
Use a light watermark in a corner, if the photographer wants one. A subtle signature is usually enough.
Keep metadata in mind. Some photographers want copyright details in the file; others want to remove location data from photos taken at home.
Keep originals. Original raw files and their capture dates help prove ownership if an image is stolen.

Put these tips in a pinned “sharing safely” message.

Step 3: Warn about feature and contest offers

Add a clear warning to your pinned messages:

“Real feature pages do not charge photographers to be featured. If someone asks for money to publish your photo, it is almost certainly a scam.”

For contests, encourage members to check who organises them, whether past winners are listed, and whether the entry fee matches the prizes. If an offer arrives by private message from an unknown account, members should report it to admins.

Step 4: Give critique a structure

Spam is easier to see when the useful content follows a pattern. Try:

A rule that each photo post includes a short note: what you wanted to achieve and what kind of feedback you want.
A weekly theme, such as “night photography” or “one lens only”, announced in a pinned post.

These traditions make the group feel active and give newcomers clear ways to take part.

Step 5: Run a safe marketplace thread

Gear sales are useful, but risky. In your marketplace thread:

AAsk sellers to post real photos of the item with a handwritten note showing their username and the date.
Encourage in-person handovers or payment methods with buyer protection.
Remove any listing that asks for gift cards or crypto.
Ban accounts that post the same "too good to be true" deal in many groups.

Step 6: Adjust permissions for new members

In Group settings → Permissions, restrict links for new members for the first day. Photographers can still post images, but they cannot paste shop or course links straight away. If your group is small, join approval with a simple question, such as “What camera or phone do you shoot with?”, filters out many bots.

Step 7: Respond to theft reports

When a member reports that a photo was stolen:

Ask for the original file details and a link to the copy.
If the thief is a group member, remove them.
Point the photographer to the reporting tools of the platform where the copy appeared.

A calm, quick response shows members that the group takes their work seriously.

Let a bot remove the routine ads

Photography admins would rather review photos than delete preset ads. A bot can handle that part. 虾宝 (Xiabao), at @xiabaotg_bot, is a free anti-ad bot for group owners: it checks new members and removes common ad and link spam automatically, so course promotions and scam links are removed without anyone having to watch the chat. Learn more at Xiabao (xiabao.org).

Keep the focus on the pictures

A photography group works best when members feel safe sharing their images and honest feedback flows freely. Clear credit rules, a warning about paid "features" and a careful marketplace protect that trust, and leave more room for the photos themselves.

Disclosure: written by the 虾宝 (Xiabao) team, which maintains the bot mentioned above.

Photography Telegram Groups: Stopping Photo Theft, Fake "Feature Your Photo" Accounts and Preset Spam