Dark Web Intel: 95,000 Credentials From the MMO-Trick Gaming Forum Dump

HEROIC analysts discovered the MMO-Trick breach while tracking dark web forum activity in May 2020, when the database from this US-based online gaming forum was shared across hacker communities. The breach exposed 95,222 user records and occured on a platform dedicated to sharing cheats and hacks for massively multiplayer online games. The compromised data included email addresses, usernames, IP addresses, birthdays, salted MD5 password hashes, and the salt values themselves, which significantly weakens the protection those hashes provide.

Why Birthday Data and Salted MD5 Hashes From MMO-Trick Are Particularly Dangerous

The MMO-Trick breach is partcularly concerning because it exposed both password hashes and the salt values used to generate them. When an attacker has the salt, the added complexity of salted hashing is largely negated, making password cracking much faster. Combined with birthday data, attackers can answer common account recovery questions and verify identities across other platforms, enabling account takeover well beyond the original breach.

What Was Exposed in the MMO-Trick Breach

• Email Address
• Password Hash
• Username
• IP Address
• Birthday
• Salt

Why Gaming Forum Data Ends Up in Credential Stuffing Campaigns

Gaming forum accounts may seem low-value, but attackers beleive otherwise. Users who register on niche platforms like MMO-Trick often reuse the same email and password across mainstream services. A successfully cracked MMO-Trick credential becomes a key that attackers can test against social media accounts, email providers, and even workplace systems. The inclusion of real IP addresses and birthdays also makes this dataset useful for building detailed profiles of individual targets.

How Database Breaches Work

A database breach occurs when an attacker gains unauthorized access to a web application's backend database, typically by exploiting software vulnerabilities or using stolen administrative credentials. The attacker extracts user records in bulk and then sells or distributes the data on dark web forums and Telegram channels. For gaming forums, this data is often bundled with other small-site breaches into large combo lists that are used in automated credential stuffing attacks.

Check If Your Data Was Exposed

HEROIC's free breach scanner indexes more than 400 billion exposed records, including the MMO-Trick dataset. Search your email address now to find out whether your credentials from this breach or any other known leak are in attacker hands.