Breach date: 2018-10-21. Added to this index: 2018-12-27. Accounts affected: about 243K. Domain: goldsilver.com.
What happened
In October 2018, the bullion education and dealer services site GoldSilver suffered a data breach that exposed 243k unique email addresses spanning customers and mailing list subscribers. An extensive amount of personal information on customers was obtained including names, addresses, phone numbers, purchases and passwords and answers to security questions stored as MD5 hashes. In a small number of cases, passport, social security numbers and partial credit card data was also exposed. The data breach and source code belonging to GoldSilver was publicly posted on a dark web service where it remained months later. When notified about the incident, GoldSilver advised that "all affected customers have been directly notified".
Breach data sourced from Have I Been Pwned, used under CC BY 4.0. Additional breach metadata provided by XposedOrNot. DataExposed is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.
What was exposed
Bank account numbers: The number that identifies your account at a bank, usually stored with a sort code, routing number or BSB so a payment can be made or collected.
Email addresses: The email address you used to register or log in. It is the most common field in breaches because it doubles as your username on most sites.
IP addresses: The network addresses your devices used when you signed up, logged in or posted, recorded by almost every website in its access logs.
Names: Your first name, surname and sometimes middle name or initials, as you gave them when you signed up. It appears in almost every breach because nearly every account asks for it.
Partial credit card data: Fragments of a payment card rather than the full number, typically the first six or last four digits, the card brand, the expiry date or the cardholder name.
Passport numbers: The unique number printed on your passport, often stored with your full name, nationality, date of birth and expiry date by airlines, hotels, travel agents, exchanges and identity verification services.
Phone numbers: Your mobile or landline number, collected at signup for contact, delivery updates, marketing and two-factor codes.
Physical addresses: Your residential, postal, billing or delivery address, stored by retailers, utilities, banks, government services and almost any company that sends you something.
Purchases: Records of items or services you bought, often with order numbers, prices, dates, delivery addresses and the store or seller involved.
Security questions and answers: The questions and answers used to verify you during password resets or phone support, such as your first pet, first school, favourite teacher or mother's maiden name.
Social security numbers: The nine digit number the US Social Security Administration issues for work, tax and benefits, which lenders, employers, insurers and health providers use as the main key to your identity.
What to do now
Check whether your own address is in this dataset with the free email breach check.
Review the accounts connected to this service and turn on two-factor authentication.
Turn on two-factor authentication on your email account first, because it is the reset path for everything else.
Treat calls and messages that quote real details about you as hostile until you verify them another way.
Frequently asked questions
What data was leaked in the GoldSilver breach?
The GoldSilver breach exposed Bank account numbers, Email addresses, IP addresses, Names, Partial credit card data, Passport numbers, Phone numbers, Physical addresses, Purchases, Security questions and answers, Social security numbers. About 243K accounts were affected.
Was I affected by the GoldSilver breach?
Run the free email breach check with the address you used on that service. It will tell you whether your address appears in this dataset.
What should I do about the GoldSilver breach?
Treat any message that quotes details from this breach as suspicious, turn on two-factor authentication, and consider removing your details from people-search sites if your address or phone was included.