A leaker says it has offered information to more than 500 million Facebook Incorporation users – including phone numbers and other data – almost free.
According to Alon Gal, co-founder of the Israeli cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock, the database is the same set of Facebook-linked phone numbers that have been hacked by hackers since January and whose existence was first reported by the technical publication Motherboard.
Reuters was not immediately available for comment but was offered several euros worth of digital credit on a site notorious for low-level hackers. But Alon Gal said on Saturday that he had verified the authenticity of at least some of the data by comparing it to phone numbers of people he knew. Other journalists say they can also match known phone numbers with data dump details.
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In a statement, Facebook said its data was “ancient” and related to an issue resolved in August 2019.
Reuters’ attempts to reach the leaked telegram messaging service were not immediately successful.
Gal told Reuters that Facebook users should be wary of “social engineering attacks” by people who have obtained their phone numbers or other personal data in the coming months.