Yep, and for some reason wickr is Imo even more popular than signal in those circles. It's curious since I've basically never heard of wickr here or in any cybersec community & signal seems to be the daily messaging app for tons of people. I guess it's something to do with the phone verification required by Signal... and I'd guess both apps are pretty similar when it comes to security?
I've heard that in Russia and Kazakhstan drug dealers use Telegram. It just might be a local fashion, when few people started using it and spread it around. I don't think that it's difficult to find phone number tied to unrelated person. Just ask some homeless guy to buy one.
Even in countries where you can still buy a SIM card without ID, once you use your bank card to buy more credit for the SIM (and in Sweden you always will, because cash is basically dead there), it is trivial for the authorities to link the phone number to your real identity.
