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Neopets data breach — are you affected?

Data from the virtual-pet site Neopets, allegedly stolen several years earlier, was traded online in May 2016. It covers almost 27 million unique email addresses with birth dates, genders, names and IP addresses, and the passwords were stored in plain text, so they can be read directly.

Key facts
Verified
Breach date
5 May 2013
Accounts affected
26,892,897
Added to catalogue
7 July 2016
Website
neopets.com

Data exposed

  • Passwords, high risk
  • Dates of birth, medium risk
  • Email addresses, lower risk
  • Genders, lower risk
  • Geographic locations, lower risk
  • IP addresses, lower risk
  • Names, lower risk
  • Usernames, lower risk

Colour shows how damaging the data is if misused.Credentials, ID and bank dataContact and personal detailsOther profile data

What this means for you

Based on the types of data in this breach, in order of importance.

  • Change the password and turn on two-factor authentication

    Passwords or password hashes were part of this breach. Change the password on this service and on every site where you reused it, use a unique password for each account from a password manager, and enable two-factor authentication. You can test a password without sending it anywhere with the password checker.

  • Stay alert to identity fraud

    Birth dates and identity document numbers cannot be changed like a password. Be wary of anyone who quotes them to sound legitimate, check bank statements and credit reports regularly, and use a credit-file freeze or fraud alert where your country offers one.

  • Expect more targeted phishing

    Your email address ties you to this service, which is enough for a believable message such as a fake account warning. Check the sender and the web address before you sign in, and go to the site directly instead of using links in email.

  • Limit what attackers can personalise

    Names, employers, job titles and social profiles make impersonation and spear-phishing easier. Check what your public profiles reveal, and be careful with unexpected requests that use your real name or workplace.

Check your own email address

Run a free self-assessment for an email address you own. VINDICIS checks it against infostealer logs and several public breach sources and shows a summary in seconds.

Built for your own addresses. It is not a tool to look up other people.

Run a free self-assessmentCheck a password

Related breaches

Breaches that exposed similar kinds of data.

Frequently asked questions

Was my data in the Neopets breach?

Only a check of your own address can tell. If you had an account with Neopets around 2013, assume it might be. Run the free self-assessment with an email address you own: VINDICIS checks it against several public breach sources and shows a summary in seconds. It is built for your own addresses, not for looking up other people.

What information was exposed in the Neopets breach?

According to the Have I Been Pwned catalogue, the Neopets breach affected 26,892,897 accounts and exposed: Passwords, Dates of birth, Email addresses, Genders, Geographic locations, IP addresses, Names, Usernames. The incident dates from 5 May 2013.

What should I do if I had a Neopets account?

Change your Neopets password and the password of every account that shared it, and turn on two-factor authentication. Treat unexpected emails, texts or letters that mention Neopets with suspicion, and delete the account if you no longer use it.

Is it safe to check my email address on VINDICIS?

Yes. The free scan is not stored or logged, results stay in memory for four hours at most, and your browser only talks to this site. The password checker hashes locally and sends only five characters of the hash, so the password never leaves your device.