Facebook data breach
The Facebook data breach exposed 509,458,528 accounts from facebook.com in August 2019. The data taken includes dates of birth, names, email addresses and phone numbers and 4 more kinds of data.[1]
Have I Been Pwned verified it and added it to its search on 4 Apr 2021, 20 months later. It is the 4th largest of the 618 breaches in HARD’s list.
What was exposed
Facebook’s breach included 8 kinds of data. What each lets criminals do:
| Data | What it’s used for |
|---|---|
| Dates of birth | Used to prove who you are to banks and phone companies. |
| Names | Makes scam messages personal enough to believe. |
| Email addresses | Expect scam emails that name the company to look genuine. |
| Phone numbers | Expect scam texts and calls, and a higher risk of someone moving your number to their SIM. |
| Employers | Personal details that make scam messages more convincing. |
| Genders | Personal details that make scam messages more convincing. |
| Geographic locations | Roughly where you live. |
| Relationship statuses | Personal details that make scam messages more convincing. |
What to do
- Check whether you’re in it.Search your email address on Have I Been Pwned. It tells you which breaches it appears in, Facebook among them, without showing the data.
- Distrust messages that mention Facebook.Scammers use breach data to sound genuine. Don’t click links in emails or texts about the breach; go to the site yourself.
- Put a PIN on your phone account.Ask your mobile provider for a port-out PIN, so no one can move your number to their SIM.
Criminals use leaked details like these to make scam texts, emails and calls look real. How to spot the ones that follow a breach like this: WhatsApp scams and Wrong number text scams.
Timeline
- : the breach, as best it can be dated.
- : Have I Been Pwned verifies the data and adds it to its search, 20 months later.
- : the entry was last updated.
Breaches often stay hidden for a long time. Until it came out, people in it had no reason to change anything.
Similar breaches
Breaches that leaked the same kinds of data, closest in time:
- Verifications.io, February 2019, 763 million accounts
- MGM Resorts (2022 Update), July 2019, 25 million accounts
- TaiLieu, November 2019, 7.3 million accounts
- EatStreet, May 2019, 6.4 million accounts
- Audi, August 2019, 2.7 million accounts
- Exactis, June 2018, 132 million accounts
See Breaches for all 618, and Updates for keeping your devices patched.
References
- ^ Troy Hunt. “Facebook”, Have I Been Pwned, added 4 Apr 2021. Breach data licensed CC BY 4.0.
External links
- Have I Been Pwned, to check your email address
- facebook.com, Facebook’s website