Gamers Beware: The Reward the Fan Breach Exposed 94,769 Phone Numbers

HEROIC analysts discovered the Reward the Fan data breach, dated 01-May-2021, in which 94,769 user records from this US-based gaming trivia community platform were exposed. The breach recieved attention on dark web forums, with the extracted database containing email addresses and phone numbers belonging to active gaming community members.

Phone Numbers and Emails from Reward the Fan Enable Targeted Scams Against Gamers

With direct phone numbers and email addresses in hand, attackers can launch SMS phishing (smishing) campaigns, robocall scams, and personalized email attacks targeting the 94,769 affected users. Gaming community members are partcularly vulnerable to social engineering attacks that impersonate platform rewards, prize notifications, or account alerts, making this breach data highly actionable for fraud operations.

What Was Exposed in the Reward the Fan Breach

• Email Address
• Phone Number

Why Gaming Community Members Should Take the Reward the Fan Breach Seriously

Even without passwords, exposed email addresses and phone numbers are accessable tools for attackers running account takeover attempts via SMS-based 2FA bypass, SIM swapping attacks, and identity theft schemes. Anyone whose phone number was in the Reward the Fan database faces ongoing risk of being targeted for financial fraud and social engineering attacks.

How a Database Breach Works

A database breach occurs when an attacker gains unauthorized access to a platform's backend user database, often through exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities, SQL injection, or compromised credentials. Once extracted, the data is posted on dark web forums where other threat actors purchase and use it for follow-on attacks including phishing, smishing, and identity fraud.

Check If Your Data Was Exposed

HEROIC's free breach scanner searches more than 400 billion records to check whether your email appeared in the Reward the Fan breach or any other known incident. Run a free scan at HEROIC now and find out exactly what personal information of yours is already in attackers' hands.