VirusTotal: scan files in chat

You downloaded an archive from a random site, or a stranger sent you a file, and you are not sure it is safe to open. The VirusTotal bot in Telegram takes the file and checks it with more than seventy antivirus engines without leaving the chat 🛡️

A scan in about a minute

The routine is short: open the bot, send a document, archive or installer, and wait for the report. There is nothing to configure.

The interface speaks English and Russian, and the service describes itself as free. The result shows how many engines flagged the file as suspicious.

Why seventy engines matter

One antivirus misses what another one catches. Each has its own signatures, heuristics and database update speed. When dozens of engines check a file, the chance of spotting malware goes up noticeably.

So read the report as a summary of the engines' opinions:

• Zero detections. A good sign, but not a guarantee: brand new malware may not be in the databases yet.
• One or two detections. Often false alarms, especially for key generators, homemade utilities and game mods.
• Many detections. Delete the file and do not run it.

What is worth checking

Do not open unverified files. Be especially careful with these formats:

1. Executables: exe, msi, apk.
2. Archives whose password was sent by the sender.
3. Word and Excel documents with macros.
4. Disk images and game installers from unofficial sources.

There is little point in scanning photos or plain text, since they rarely carry a threat on their own.

The privacy catch

This matters. The bot is run by an independent author, not by the scanning service itself. Your file passes through a third party's server, and in scanning systems it can become visible to other users.

Do not send personal documents, work materials, contracts or private photos. Scan only what you would not mind showing to strangers 🔒

What a bot scan does not replace

Signature based checks do not guarantee safety. New threats can slip through, and malicious links inside a document are not always visible during analysis.

Keep a regular antivirus on your phone and computer, update the system and download programs from developers' official pages. The bot is an extra filter, nothing more.

If the file turns out dangerous

• Do not run it and delete it right away, emptying the trash too.
• If you already ran it, disconnect from the internet and run a full system scan.
• Change passwords from another clean device if you entered any data.
• Tell the sender: their account may have been hacked.

Answers to common questions

These are the questions people ask most often.