The personal data of 200,000 Facebook Marketplace users was leaked on a hacker forum. The leaked data reportedly includes names, phone numbers, email addresses, Facebook IDs, and Facebook profile information.
According to Squeaking Computer, the data was shared on a shadowy web forum by known leaker IntelBroker, who claims the data was hacked by someone using “algoatson” on Discord. “In October 2023, a cybercriminal named ‘algoatson’ on Discord hacked into a provider managing cloud services for Facebook and stole its partial user database of 200,000 entries,” IntelBroker said. The data was allegedly hacked by an “algoatson” through a Meta contract employee.
Bleeping Computer was able to verify the authenticity of some of the information by comparing it to known email addresses and phone numbers connected to Facebook Marketplace.
This is not the first leak of personal data of Facebook users. In 2021, the data of over 530 million Facebook users was leaked on an online forum. The data breaches occurred in 2019, meaning personal information has been circulating on the shadowy web for two years. As a result, Meta was fined €265 million for violating the EU’s GDPR, which protects user privacy.
How to protect yourself from a Facebook Marketplace breach
If, like many of us, you are an avid Facebook Marketplace user, there are ways to block your account. Change your Facebook password and turn on two-factor authentication (2FA), which adds a second layer of verification by asking for your identity on a second device. Be especially vigilant about suspicious emails or text messages, as they may be a phishing attempt using your Facebook details.
