Hackers Claim to Have Scraped Data of 1.2 Billion Facebook Users

A group of hackers says they’ve scraped a massive database containing the personal details of 1.2 billion Facebook users. The data was allegedly taken by misusing one of Facebook’s own tools, called an API (Application Programming Interface). Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has not denied that the data scraping happened.

The huge dataset was recently posted on a well-known data leak forum. According to the hackers, this isn’t an old leak being reshared—it’s brand new information. If true, this could be one of the biggest Facebook data leaks ever.

When asked about the incident, Meta simply pointed to a four-year-old blog post about how it fights data scraping. A spokesperson said, “This is not a new claim. We disclosed this years ago and have taken steps to prevent similar incidents.”

Cybernews, a cybersecurity outlet, analyzed a sample of 100,000 user records from the leak and said the data appears real. The sample includes:

• User IDs

• Full names

• Email addresses

• Usernames

• Phone numbers

• Locations

• Birthdays

• Genders

Despite the huge numbers, experts are cautious. They say the attackers don’t have a strong track record—this is only their second major post. Still, the data looks legitimate, and it raises serious concerns.

Cybersecurity researchers say that repeated leaks like this show Facebook is often reacting after the fact instead of preventing problems in advance. “It’s a pattern,” the researchers said. “Public data may seem harmless, but it can still lead to phishing, scams, identity theft, and long-term privacy issues.”

Hackers can use data like this to launch large-scale phishing attacks, where fake messages are sent out to trick users into giving away even more personal information.

Data scraping through APIs is a common tactic. Earlier this year, attackers misused the APIs of companies like Shopify, GoDaddy, Wix, and OpenAI. Cybercriminals often use these methods to break into online accounts and even cryptocurrency wallets.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has had a massive data leak. Back in 2021, personal data of over 500 million users was leaked, leading to a €265 million fine by European regulators.

In another twist, Meta itself admitted last year that it had scraped public Facebook and Instagram data to train its own AI assistant—raising even more questions about how the company handles user information.

As the investigation continues, users are urged to be cautious and watch out for suspicious emails or messages.