Paidwork.com data breach

In March 2026, the gig economy and microtask platform Paidwork suffered a major data breach that exposed the personal and financial information of over 23.3 million user accounts.


What Happened

• Timeline: The intrusion occurred in March 2026, and an 11 GB database dump was advertised on cybercrime forums in April 2026 before being widely tracked and added to breach monitoring services in July 2026.

• Scale: The leak affects roughly 23,272,765 unique user records.


Exposed Data

The stolen 11 GB database includes:

• Full names and profile photos

• Email addresses and home physical addresses

• Phone numbers and dates of birth

• Gender and education details

• Bank account numbers, payout histories, and transaction records

• Device data and IP addresses

• Bcrypt-hashed passwords


Risks and Impacts

• Phishing & Social Engineering: Attackers can use real names, addresses, and transaction histories to send highly convincing targeted scams.

• Credential Stuffing & Account Takeover: Exposed email addresses and password hashes put any other accounts where you reused passwords at risk.

• Financial Fraud: Bank account and payout details increase the danger of unauthorized financial activity.

In order to start protecting yourself from possible fraud in future, we highly recommend the following steps:

1. Immediately change your password on the affected website, but also any other website where you may re-use this password.

2. Download the Google or Microsoft Authenticator App on your mobile device. Activate 2FA authentication on any website you use, which allow for it.

3. Keep monitoring your bank accounts and account pay-outs on the affected system. Be sure to receive transactions notification on your bank account.