More than 142 million pieces of data, including names, addresses and phone numbers of customers have been discovered on the instant messaging.
The vpnMentor site research team has just got their hands on a very large amount of personal data that has been leaking for several years on the dark web.
A data breach identified in 2019 resurfaces today
These four files represent a weight of 8.7 GB and contain no less than 142 million entries, and as much personal data collected several years ago.
Indeed, this data leak would have taken place in 2019 following an intrusion into the servers of MGM hotels, an American chain with many establishments in North America and China.
This huge data file was then resold on the dark web for the modest sum of 2,900 dollars and resurfaced today for those who know how to search Telegram.
Instant messaging is also an increasingly popular place for hackers to reveal their exploits. End-to-end encryption of conversations guarantees them anonymity and the freedom to share their discoveries with thousands of people.
Very useful personal data for organizing targeted spam mailings
These 142 million entries correspond to the information of approximately 30 million guests who stayed at MGM hotels before 2017. Among the information that can be read are the full names of the guests, their postal addresses, their numbers phone numbers, dates of birth and 24 million email addresses. Banking information does not seem to be part of these thick files.
This personal data is a gold mine for precisely targeting users as well as for sending them spam and other phishing attempts by email or SMS. This is done in particular by using the dates of birth of the oldest people, who could fall into the trap of a particularly well-crafted misleading email.
If you were able to stay in one of the establishments of the MGM group before 2017, we therefore strongly advise you to be extra vigilant when you receive an email or a questionable short message, with approximate spelling, or quite simply a commercial offer that is too attractive to be honest. Reply only to your trusted contacts.
On the same subject :
VPN: the data of 21 million users can be found on Telegram
Source : vpnMentor
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