WhatsApp dismisses report of alleged data leak containing phone numbers of nearly 3 million Hongkongers
Danny Mok reports:
WhatsApp on Sunday dismissed a media report claiming that a database containing the mobile phone numbers of nearly 500 million users, including almost 3 million from Hong Kong, was leaked and put up for sale, saying it had found no evidence of a data breach.
The article by Cybernews, a research-based online publication, reported an advert had appeared on a well-known hacking community forum on November 16 offering to sell a 2022 database containing the mobile phone numbers of 487 million users of WhatsApp, which is owned by tech giant Meta.
A Meta spokesman said the report was “speculative” and based on “unsubstantiated screenshots”, adding the company had not found any evidence of a data leak on WhatsApp systems.
Read more at South China Morning Post.