Hackers claim they accessed Tinder, Hinge user info

Match Group, the conglomerate that owns Tinder, Hinge and other dating apps, is investigating a security incident that exposed user data.

A hacker group called Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters claimed to have stolen a trove of internal data from Match, according to 404 Media. 404 Media downloaded the data and reported that it contained some users’ unique advertising identifiers, company receipts and other internal documents.

A Match spokesperson told Mashable: “We are aware of claims made online regarding a recently identified security incident. Match Group takes the safety and security of our users seriously and has acted quickly to stop the unauthorized access. We continue to investigate with the assistance of external cybersecurity experts.

“There is no indication that user login credentials, financial information, or private communications were accessed. We believe the incident affects a limited amount of user data and we are already in the process of notifying individuals as appropriate,” the spokesperson continued.

A spokesperson for the hacking group told 404 Media that it gained access to Match’s documents through a social engineering tactic called vishing. Vishing is like phishing, except it’s done over the phone. Scammers impersonate a credible person or company to obtain information or money. The hacker told 404 Media that the group used Match’s Okta single sign-on. Okta is a cybersecurity company specializing in secure connections for businesses. An Okta spokesperson told 404 Media:

“Okta Threat Intelligence regularly shares threat research to help businesses protect against evolving social engineering techniques. These target organizations across all sectors and impersonate a range of identity and cryptocurrency providers. While Okta’s platform and services remain secure, Okta is drawing attention to these evolving techniques to help raise awareness and support stronger defenses for customers.

The hackers said they accessed Match data from the AppsFlyer cloud platform, but AppsFlyer denied the incident came from its app:

“AppsFlyer has confirmed that the incident mentioned in recent media reports did not originate from AppsFlyer and did not involve a data breach, security incident, or compromise of AppsFlyer’s systems. AppsFlyer’s infrastructure and security controls were not breached. Any implication that AppsFlyer was the source of the incident, or that data was exposed due to a compromise of AppsFlyer systems, is inaccurate.”