What Happened
In March 2011, the adult social network Fling.com suffered a major data breach when its database was hacked, compromising approximately 40.8 million user accounts. The exposed data included highly sensitive information such as email addresses, usernames, plain-text passwords, IP addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, genders, geographic locations, sexual fetishes, sexual orientations, and website activity. The stolen data remained dormant until 2016, when hacker “Peace of Mind” began selling it on dark web markets like The Real Deal for around 0.65 Bitcoin, prompting verification by experts like Troy Hunt and addition to breach databases such as Have I Been Pwned on May 28, 2016. Fling confirmed the breach’s authenticity but noted its age, advising users to change passwords, though direct notifications and further security measures remain unclear.
