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Freecycle data breach overview:
- Who: Private nonprofit organization Freecycle disclosed it suffered a data breach.
- Why: The alleged hacker behind the data breach reportedly used stolen credentials to gain access to Freecycle user data.
- Where: The Freecycle data breach affected users in the United States and United Kingdom.
- How to find help: Consumers who received a data breach letter informing them their information was compromised in a cybersecurity incident may qualify to participate in a free data breach class action lawsuit investigation.
Private nonprofit organization Freecycle announced it suffered a data breach that may have exposed private information belonging to 7 million of its users.
Freecycle, a platform that allows individuals to recycle their belongings, is prompting its users to reset their passwords as soon as possible in the wake of the data breach, which it says it discovered Aug. 30.
The data breach exposed usernames, user IDs, email addresses and passwords, according to an incident notice posted by Freecycle on its website.
“Because of the exposure of personal passwords, we are taking every measure to quickly inform members about the need to change their passwords,” the nonprofit said in the incident notice.
Freecycle reassured users the data breach did not expose any other personal information, saying the incident is now contained and has been reported to privacy authorities in both the United States and United Kingdom.
Freecycle warns users to be vigilant of phishing emails in wake of data breach
Freecycle warned its users they may receive more spam emails and urged them to be vigilant of phishing emails, avoid clicking on links in emails and not download any unexpected attachments.
The nonprofit did not divulge how the data breach occurred nor exactly how many of its around 11 million users were impacted; however, screenshots posted two months ago by the alleged hacker showed more than 7 million may have been affected, SecurityWeek reports.
The bad actor reportedly used stolen credentials to gain access to the Freecycle user data.
In other data breach news, a consumer filed a class action lawsuit against nonprofit health company CareSource earlier this month in the wake of a data breach that exposed private information belonging to more than 3 million consumers.
CareSource is accused of both failing to adequately screen its vendors and allowing private information to be stored unencrypted, making it vulnerable to a data breach.
Have you been impacted by the Freecycle data breach ? Let us know in the comments.
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