BuyCar4U Leak: 1,474 Email Addresses With Plain Text Logins
If you ever gave BuyCar4U your email address, HEROIC analysts reported that its user records were copied in a data breach dated August 1, 2023. The leak holds 1,474 email addresses paired with logins stored in plain text, and it was shared on a hacking forum before spreading to messaging channels. Because the breach is reported rather than confirmed, the only way to know is to scan your email.
What this means for you depends on whether the logins in the file still match ones you use. Anyone who opens a plain text file can read each email address beside its login and try the pair on other services straight away. Even if you do not recognize the site, finding your address in a list like this is a reason to check now rather than wait.
What Was Exposed
Key finding100% of records pair an email address with a password.
Everything Stored in the BuyCar4U File
- Email addresses: the identifier attackers use to find you on other services and to send convincing phishing messages.
- Passwords stored in plain text: login secrets that anyone can read straight from the file, with no cracking needed.
How Records Like These Get Out
Records like these come from one service's own tables, copied after someone reached the systems behind it. The copy is then shared, often far from where it started. By the time the owner notices, the file may already be circulating.
Data exposed in this breach
Email addresses appear in 100% of the 1,474 records in this breach, alongside plain-text passwords (100%). 100% of records (1,474) pair an email address with a password.
An email address and password together are a working login. Attackers feed pairs like these into automated tools that try them on banking, shopping and email sites, so anyone who reused the password elsewhere is exposed there too.
- Domain
- buycar4u.com
- Date leaked
- 01 Aug 2023
- Records in breach
- 1,474
Email providers and account types
94.3% of the email addresses in this breach are personal mailboxes and 5.7% are work addresses. The most common provider is hotmail.com, followed by gmail.com and hotmail.co.th.
Work addresses matter because a password reused on a company account can give attackers a way into that organisation. The company domains below show which employers appear most often.
Mailbox type
- Personal mailboxes94.3%
- Work mailboxes5.7%
Email providers
- 1hotmail.com864
- 2gmail.com368
- 3hotmail.co.th56
- 4yahoo.com43
- 5live.com11
- 6yahoo.co.th9
- 7msn.com7
- 8hotmai.com5
- 9mail.ru4
- 10outlook.com3
- 11gmai.com2
- 12163.com2
- 13hotmil.com2
- 14hotmial.com1
- 15hitmail.com1
Company domains
| # | Domain | Accounts | Share of records |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | windowslive.com | 27 | 1.8% |
| 2 | thaimail.com | 4 | 0.3% |
| 3 | yeah.net | 4 | 0.3% |
| 4 | aqua.co.th | 3 | 0.2% |
| 5 | mail333.com | 2 | 0.1% |
| 6 | mju.ac.th | 1 | 0.1% |
| 7 | hotmai.co.th | 1 | 0.1% |
| 8 | poczta.pl | 1 | 0.1% |
| 9 | ppmnorth.com | 1 | 0.1% |
| 10 | th.initiative.com | 1 | 0.1% |
| 11 | tsm-lpn.com | 1 | 0.1% |
| 12 | 60gmal.com | 1 | 0.1% |
| 13 | cpf.co.th | 1 | 0.1% |
| 14 | rachatent.com | 1 | 0.1% |
| 15 | khonmuang.com | 1 | 0.1% |
Password Analysis
Key finding41.2% of passwords in this breach are reused, and 31.8% are 8 characters or fewer.
What 1,474 Plain Text Logins Let Someone Do
Plain text means nothing has to be broken before the logins become usable. Someone can read each row and start trying the pairs on email providers, social media and shopping sites. People often reuse the same login details, so one match on a single site can quietly open a second or third.
A file like this may look minor, but it works as a targeted list. Each row tells an attacker who to contact and which login to test, which saves the work of guessing from scratch.
Why a Single Old Login Can Reach Your Bank
Banks and email providers see a login from a familiar address and may trust it more than they should. Attackers know this, so they test leaked logins on the services where money or private messages are kept. The result can be stolen funds, a locked inbox or messages sent in your name.
Scam calls and texts often pair a real email address with an invented story, and a leak like this gives the story weight. Even if none of the logins still work, the record may help a caller sound familiar enough to earn your trust.
Could Your BuyCar4U Login Be in the File?
Begin by taking a minute to scan your email and see your information, including whether this file lists you.
If your address shows up, change the login you used with BuyCar4U, then move on to your main email and banking logins. Watch for messages that mention BuyCar4U and ask you to verify details, since the file makes those messages easier to fake.
A work inbox needs the same attention as a personal one here.
Password strength
Of the 1,474 passwords analysed, 41.2% appear more than once, and the single most common password accounts for 37.3% of them. The average password is 9.1 characters long.
98.1% contain no special character, 78.1% are numbers only and 5.7% are lowercase letters only. Passwords built this way are the first ones cracking tools try, which is why length and a mix of character types matter.
Password habits
Password length
The most common length is 9-10 characters, covering 63.6% of passwords. 31.8% are 8 characters or fewer, while only 0.1% reach 17 characters or more.
Every extra character multiplies the number of guesses an attacker needs. Passwords of 8 characters or fewer can be cracked quickly once they leak, while long passphrases hold up far better.
Share of passwords by length
- 8 characters or fewer
- 9 characters or more
Most common passwords
The most common password appears 549 times, and the top 15 together account for 608 uses. Passwords are masked here: only their first characters are shown, next to each password's true length.
When many accounts share one password it usually points to a default password, a shared team password or a common pattern such as a name followed by numbers. Treat any password on this list as public.
- 108********10 chars549
- 212****6 chars23
- 308********10 chars6
- 412******8 chars3
- 555****6 chars3
- 604*******9 chars3
- 700****6 chars3
- 812*****7 chars3
- 99****5 chars3
- 10jp****6 chars2
- 1121*****7 chars2
- 1225*****7 chars2
- 1365****6 chars2
- 14Aj********10 chars2
- 1549******8 chars2
Leaked in this breach: email address, plaintext password
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