Researchers Found a Combolist With 5,458,163 Logins Inside

When security researchers go digging through Telegram channels that trade in stolen data, they occassionally stumble on files far larger than expected. Files_17.10_18.21_13, dated 10-Oct-2024, is one of those finds, holding a staggering 5,458,163 email and password combinations in a single download.

Why This Is Dangerous

Numbers this large stop feeling like individual people and start feeling abstract, but every single line in that file is somebody's real login. The sheer scale of 5,458,163 records means this combolist could seperate someone from their email, banking, or shopping accounts without them ever knowing their credentials were part of the batch.

What Was Exposed

• Millions of email addresses used as account usernames
• Passwords stored fully in plaintext, no hashing applied
• URLs marking which platforms each pair was collected from or tested against

Why This Matters

Files of this size are built for speed. Criminals load them into automated credential stuffing tools that can test thousands of combinations per minute against major websites. Even a success rate under one percent still hands attackers tens of thousands of working accounts out of a file this large.

How This Combolist Works

A combolist like this one is rarely the product of a single breach. It is closer to an archive, built by pulling old and new leaks together, cleaning out duplicates, and sorting everything into one master file labeled by date and batch number, in this case 17.10_18.21_13. That packaging makes it easy for buyers and other criminals to reuse the data over and over long after the original source breaches are forgotten.

Check If You Are Affected

A file with 5.4 million entries is not something you can eyeball for your own information. HEROIC's free tool checks your email against more than 400 billion leaked records, including combolists exactly like this one, giving you a clear answer in moments.