The 10k Hotmail Combo Leak Means Someone Could Be In Your Inbox

10,356 Hotmail Accounts Surface in a New Telegram Combolist

HEROIC analysts found a combolist labeled "10k HOTMAIL COMBO" uploaded to Telegram on November 3, 2024. The file contains 10,356 records pairing Hotmail email addresses with plaintext passwords, along with the URLs the credentials were tied to.

Why This Is Dangerous

Every password in this file sits in plain, readable text, so anyone who grabs the list can use the credentials immediately, no hacking skill required. Combined with matching email addresses and URLs, this gives an attacker a direct, working key into thousands of Hotmail and Outlook inboxes.

What Was Exposed

• Hotmail email addresses
• Plaintext passwords
• Associated URLs

Why This Matters

An email inbox is the master key to most of someone's digital life. With access to a Hotmail account, an attacker can trigger password resets on banking, shopping, and social media accounts, then take them over one by one. Because so many people reuse passwords, this single combolist can lead to credential stuffing attacks far beyond Hotmail itself, opening the door to identity theft and financial fraud.

How This Combolist Was Likely Built

Combolists like this one are typically stitched together from older breaches, phishing kits, and malware logs, then cleaned up and packaged for sale or free distribution on Telegram channels. Criminals use bots to automatically test every email and password pair against popular websites, a technique known as credential stuffing, so even a list of 10,356 records can do real damage in just minutes.

Check If You Are Affected

If you use a Hotmail or Outlook account, check whether your email appears in this leak or any other breach. HEROIC's free breach scanner searches a database of more than 400 billion leaked records, so you can find out instantly and change any reused passwords before someone else gets there first.