Hacker tries to sell 500m WhatsApp user data on dark web

An alleged hacker posted a dark web dataset containing personal information for almost 500 million WhatsApp users.

The post was posted to BreachForums hacking forum on November 16 and claimed that the hacker was selling current personal information from 487 million WhatsApp users in 84 countries. The alleged hacker stated that those who purchased the datasets would receive ” the most recent mobile numbers” from WhatsApp users.

CyberNews, a technology news website, reported the leak. It said that it had “investigated” the data set supplied by the hacker. CyberNews reported that the site was able verify that the 1,914 numbers stolen by the hacker belonged to WhatsApp users. This means the hacker’s claims are “likely…to prove true.”

The bad actor claims that the 487 million records contain details about 32 million US users, 11million UK users, and six million German users. CyberNews reported that hackers had claimed to have told them they were selling these data sets at US$7,000, US$2,500, and US$2,000.

The hacker didn’t explain how so much user data was collected. He said only that they “used their strategy” in order to get it.

This news comes days after it was reported by Meta that employees at WhatsApp’s parent company Meta had been fired for violating Facebook’s terms and service by hacking into user accounts.

Meta has since denied the leak. An unnamed spokesperson is alleged to have reached out to multiple news outlets that reported on the leak on November 28, with unidentified sources. These news sources claim that the spokesperson claimed that CyberNews’ article was based on “unsubstantiated snapshots” and that there is no evidence of a “data leak” from WhatsApp.

WhatsApp and Meta, its parent company, have not yet made any official statements about the alleged data leakage.

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