FlexBooker data breach

From Breaches, in the HARD wiki · Updated
This article is about the December 2021 breach of FlexBooker. For every breach, see Breaches.

The FlexBooker data breach exposed 3,756,794 accounts from flexbooker.com in December 2021. The data taken includes passwords, partial credit card data, names, email addresses and phone numbers.[1]

Have I Been Pwned verified it and added it to its search on 6 Jan 2022, within a month. It is the 240th largest of the 618 breaches in HARD’s list.

What was exposed

FlexBooker’s breach included 5 kinds of data. What each lets criminals do:

DataWhat it’s used for
PasswordsCriminals try leaked passwords on email, banking and shopping sites, because people reuse them.
Partial credit card dataNot enough to spend, but enough to make a fake call from your bank convincing.
NamesMakes scam messages personal enough to believe.
Email addressesExpect scam emails that name the company to look genuine.
Phone numbersExpect scam texts and calls, and a higher risk of someone moving your number to their SIM.

What to do

  1. Check whether you’re in it.Search your email address on Have I Been Pwned. It tells you which breaches it appears in, FlexBooker among them, without showing the data.
  2. Change your FlexBooker password.If the account still exists, sign in at FlexBooker (flexbooker.com) and change it.
  3. Change it anywhere you used the same one.Start with your email, then banking and shopping. Leaked passwords are tried on other sites automatically, within days.
  4. Use a password manager and two-step sign-in.A different password for every site means one breach can’t open the rest. Two-step sign-in stops a leaked password working on its own.
  5. Distrust messages that mention FlexBooker.Scammers use breach data to sound genuine. Don’t click links in emails or texts about the breach; go to the site yourself.
  6. 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.
  7. Watch your statements.Report anything you don’t recognise to your bank, and ask for a new card if full card numbers leaked.

Timeline

  • : the breach, as best it can be dated.
  • : Have I Been Pwned verifies the data and adds it to its search, within a month.

Similar breaches

Breaches that leaked the same kinds of data, closest in time:

  • Imavex, August 2021, 878,209 accounts
  • Home Chef, February 2020, 8.8 million accounts
  • Swvl, June 2020, 4.2 million accounts
  • Bonobos, August 2020, 2.8 million accounts
  • Lazada RedMart, July 2020, 1.1 million accounts
  • Eye4Fraud, January 2023, 16 million accounts

See Breaches for all 618, and Updates for keeping your devices patched.

References

  1. ^ Troy Hunt. “FlexBooker”, Have I Been Pwned, added 6 Jan 2022. Breach data licensed CC BY 4.0.