Jan 14, 2026, 12:42 PM
The data of approximately 700 million LinkedIn users was scraped and posted for sale on a dark web forum in June 2021. LinkedIn maintained that this was a case of data scraping from publicly available profiles and other websites, not an internal system breach, and no private data like passwords or financial information was exposed.
Details of the Incident
Scope: Data from an estimated 700 million accounts was affected, representing over 90% of LinkedIn's user base at the time.
Method: A hacker, using the moniker "God User" or "TomLiner", reportedly exploited the LinkedIn API to harvest the data, combining it with information from other sources.
Data Exposed: The scraped data included both publicly available and, potentially, some additional information made accessible through improper safeguards. Exposed information included:
Email addresses
Full names
Phone numbers
Physical addresses
Geolocation records
LinkedIn usernames and profile URLs
Personal and professional experience/background
Genders and other social media accounts
[credits=8]https://gofile.io/d/enWCT6[/credits]
Details of the Incident
Scope: Data from an estimated 700 million accounts was affected, representing over 90% of LinkedIn's user base at the time.
Method: A hacker, using the moniker "God User" or "TomLiner", reportedly exploited the LinkedIn API to harvest the data, combining it with information from other sources.
Data Exposed: The scraped data included both publicly available and, potentially, some additional information made accessible through improper safeguards. Exposed information included:
Email addresses
Full names
Phone numbers
Physical addresses
Geolocation records
LinkedIn usernames and profile URLs
Personal and professional experience/background
Genders and other social media accounts
[credits=8]https://gofile.io/d/enWCT6[/credits]
This forum account is currently banned. Ban Length: Permanent (N/A Remaining)
Ban Reason: Contact Administration.
Ban Reason: Contact Administration.
