Neteller data breach
From Breaches, in the HARD wiki · Updated
This article is about the May 2010 breach of Neteller. For every breach, see Breaches.
The Neteller data breach exposed 3,619,948 accounts from neteller.com in May 2010. The data taken includes security questions and answers, account balances, dates of birth and names and 6 more kinds of data.[1]
Have I Been Pwned verified it and added it to its search on 30 Nov 2015, 6 years later. It is the 244th largest of the 618 breaches in HARD’s list.
What was exposed
Neteller’s breach included 10 kinds of data. What each lets criminals do:
| Data | What it’s used for |
|---|---|
| Security questions and answers | The answers reset passwords elsewhere, and you can’t change your mother’s maiden name. |
| Account balances | Useful for payment fraud. |
| Dates of birth | Used to prove who you are to banks and phone companies. |
| Names | Makes scam messages personal enough to believe. |
| Physical addresses | Used to prove who you are, and for scam letters and parcels. |
| 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. |
| Genders | Personal details that make scam messages more convincing. |
| IP addresses | Roughly where you were when you used the service. |
| Website activity | 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, Neteller among them, without showing the data.
- Turn on two-step sign-in.On Neteller (neteller.com) and your email, so leaked sign-in details aren’t enough on their own.
- Change your security answers.Wherever you used the same ones. They don’t have to be true: treat them like extra passwords.
- Distrust messages that mention Neteller.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.
- Freeze your credit.In the US, free at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. In Australia, ask Equifax, Experian and illion for a ban. No one can open credit in your name while it’s on.
Timeline
- : the breach, as best it can be dated.
- : Have I Been Pwned verifies the data and adds it to its search, 6 years later.
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:
- TrueFire, February 2020, 599,667 accounts
- Sony, June 2011, 37,103 accounts
- Evite, August 2013, 101 million accounts
- Money Bookers, January 2009, 4.5 million accounts
- Banorte, August 2014, 2.1 million accounts
- ClearVoice Surveys, August 2015, 15 million accounts
See Breaches for all 618, and Updates for keeping your devices patched.
References
- ^ Troy Hunt. “Neteller”, Have I Been Pwned, added 30 Nov 2015. Breach data licensed CC BY 4.0.
External links
- Have I Been Pwned, to check your email address
- neteller.com, Neteller’s website