Neopets is a name you might remember from the early-mid 2000s when a free online game player could create an account and chat with their friends. In 2014, the company was acquired by JumpStart Games, which NetDragon later acquired in 2017.
This year, Neopets hosts over 69 million accounts on its servers, and this community is experiencing some problems. Initially confirmed by a Neopets representative on Discord, the company tweeted that a massive data breach occurred yesterday, which you can see below.
Neopets recently became aware that customer data may have been stolen. We immediately launched an investigation assisted by a leading forensics firm. We are also engaging law enforcement and enhancing the protections for our systems and our user data. (1/3)
— neopets (@Neopets) July 21, 2022
This was also talked about on the community site JellyNeo. This discussion occurred after the hacker offered to sell “the complete database and source code.” This includes emails, passwords, and other personal information and direct access to a database where a buyer can “modify data, credits, or in-game pets” in a data breach forum.
The bid asked for the price of four bitcoins, or roughly $100,000. Meanwhile, the team at Neopets confirmed that emails and passwords had been compromised and advised active users to change their credentials as they worked to resolve the issue.
An important thing to note is that Neopets offers a paid subscription tier that removes ads on the site and unlocks other premium features, such as personalized forums. Players can also purchase NeoCash in the NC Mall, which can be used for various items on the Neopets website.
