More than a million users hit by ‘Beautiful People’ dating site data hack
April 26, 2016
Shah Sheikh (1294 articles)
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More than a million users hit by ‘Beautiful People’ dating site data hack

PRIVATE details shared by 1.1 million users of the ‘Beautiful People’ elite dating website, which is based on looks alone, have been leaked.

The leaked data includes information such as home addresses, sexual preferences, relationship status, incomes and millions of private messages exchanged between the site’s users.

According to Forbes.com, sources said the data is now being sold online by hackers online.

Beautifulpeople.com first sparked controversy when the site claimed to exclude unattractive people by having existing members rate those users trying to sign up.

New members must pass a ratings test before being accepted on to the website. Users are encouraged to vote for aspiring members.

Members of the site come from all over the world, including Australia.

The website claims to be “the largest internet dating community exclusively for the beautiful, dedicated to ensuring members find their perfect match”.

It also states that more than 700 couple have found marriage through the site.

Australian security expert Troy Hunt, who runs the website HaveIBeenPwned.com, also tweeted that the leak included 170 government email addresses.

“We’re looking at in excess of 100 individual data attributes per person,” Hunt told Forbes. “Everything you’d expect from a site of this nature is in there.”

According to Forbes.com, other private data that was leaked included users’ weight, height, job, education, body type, eye and hair colour, their email addresses and mobile phone numbers. Location data was also leaked along with users’ hobbies.

Beautifulpeople.com was originally hacked last year, in a breach that reportedly affected a database of test accounts.

The latest hack comes after Ashley Madison, a dating website used by married people looking for affairs, was also hacked last year.

The Ashley Madison hack affected than 700 Australian government officials and police officers.

Yesterday, a group of exposed Ashley Madison users were told they would not be able to anonymously sue the site after their personal details were publicly leaked.

Source | News.com.au