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Data breaches → Tigo

Was your data in the Tigo breach?

2023 · tigo.chat · ~700,394 accounts exposedCritical severity · 8/10

Tigo (tigo.chat) suffered a data breach in 2023 that exposed around 700,394 accounts. If you had an account, some of your personal data may be circulating in leaked databases. The fastest way to know is to check your own email — free, in about 30 seconds, no password required.

What happened

In Mid-2023, 300GB of data containing over 100M records from the Chinese video chat platform "Tigo" dating back to March that year was discovered. The data contained over 700k unique names, usernames, email and IP addresses, genders, profile photos and private messages. Tigo did not respond to multiple attempts to disclose the incident.

Breach details sourced from Have I Been Pwned, the industry-standard breach database. Risk analysis by Nullivo.

What was exposed, and why it matters

Not all breaches carry the same risk — what matters is which fields leaked. Here is what the Tigo breach exposed and what each item actually enables:

Private messages

Personal correspondence can be used for blackmail or social engineering, and often contains other sensitive details you have forgotten sharing.

Location data

Reveals where you live, work or travel, which supports both targeted scams and physical-safety risks.

Names and usernames

Links this leak to your other accounts — a reused username lets anyone build a profile of you across platforms.

Email addresses

Puts you on spam and phishing lists, and confirms to attackers that you hold an account with this service — which makes impersonation emails more believable.

IP addresses

Reveals your approximate location and internet provider, which adds credibility to targeted scams.

Also listed in this breach: Device information, Email addresses, Genders, Geographic locations, IP addresses, Names, Private messages, Profile photos, Usernames.

What to do if you were affected

These steps are ordered for this specific breach — the most urgent action given what leaked comes first.

  1. Private messages: Consider what was discussed on this service and whether anything needs changing (shared passwords, personal disclosures).
  2. Location data: Review location sharing on the accounts you still hold with this service.
  3. Names and usernames: Search your usual username to see what else it exposes, and use distinct handles for sensitive accounts.
  4. Email addresses: Treat any message referencing this service with suspicion, and never act on links in unexpected emails.
  5. IP addresses: No direct action needed, but be wary of anyone quoting your location as “proof” of identity.
  6. Check whether your own email appears in this breach — run a free scan to confirm before you spend time on the steps above.

How urgent is this now?

This data has been circulating for around 3 years, which means it has been copied, combined with other leaks and indexed by search tools many times over.

Remember: a breach can't be "un-leaked" — once a database is out, it exists in countless copies. The goal is to make the leaked data useless: change what can be changed, lock down what can't, and remove what has been republished.

Check if your email was exposed.Nullivo's free scan checks your own verified email against known breaches — including Tigo — in 30 seconds. No password, no signup, and we only ever scan your own email. Run your free scan →

Frequently asked questions

What data was exposed in the Tigo breach?

The Tigo breach exposed private messages, location data, names and usernames, email addresses, ip addresses. Personal correspondence can be used for blackmail or social engineering, and often contains other sensitive details you have forgotten sharing.

How many people were affected by the Tigo breach?

Around 700,394 accounts were exposed, making it a mid-sized breach.

What should I do if I had a Tigo account?

Consider what was discussed on this service and whether anything needs changing (shared passwords, personal disclosures). You can check whether your own email appears in this breach with a free Nullivo scan — no password required.

Breaches that exposed similar data

If the Tigo breach affected you, these breaches exposed comparable information — worth checking too, since leaked datasets are routinely combined.

See all breaches we cover →