If You Reuse Passwords, the ‘valid’ Combolist Leak Should Worry You

What HEROIC Analysts Found

On January 28, 2026, HEROIC analysts identified a combolist file uploaded to a Telegram channel and labeled simply "valid," a common tag uploaders use to claim the credentials inside still work. The file contained 1,820 records pairing email addresses with plaintext passwords and the website URLs those logins were tied to.

Why This Is Dangerous

If you reuse the same password across more than one account, a file like this one is exactly the kind of leak that should worry you. Because the passwords are stored in plaintext and matched to a specific site, an attacker does not need any special skill to test them, just a copy of the file and a few minutes to run it against other services.

What Was Exposed

• Email addresses
• Plaintext passwords
• Associated website URLs

Why This Matters

Combolists labeled "valid" are built specifically for credential stuffing, where automated tools try each stolen email and password pair across many unrelated websites at once. If you are one of the 1,820 people in this leak and you have ever reused a password on a bank, email, or shopping account, that account could already be at risk of takeover. From there, an attacker can drain money, hijack your email to reset other passwords, or use your information to commit identity theft.

How Combolist Leaks Work

A combolist pairs a username or email with a password, typically written as "email:password" per line, and is usually assembled from older breaches, malware infections, and previous leaks rather than one single new hack. A label like "valid" signals to buyers and other Telegram users that the credentials were recently tested and confirmed to still log in, which makes files carrying that tag more dangerous even when the record count is modest.

Check If You Are Affected

If you think your email could be part of the "valid" leak or any other exposure, HEROIC's free breach scanner checks your information against a database of more than 400 billion leaked records. Run a free scan now to see if your credentials appeared in this leak.