Master Deeds Data Breach
Status: Confirmed
Breach Intelligence Summary
Entity: Master Deeds · Actor: Unknown · Source: Have I Been Pwned / ObscureIQ intelligence
Attack: Data Exfiltration via Under investigation
Timeline: Breach (Mar, 2017) · Reported (Oct, 2017) · Leak (10/18/17)
Exposure: 2.3M+ records · Dates of birth, Deceased statuses, Email, Employers, Ethnicities, Genders, Government issued IDs, Home ownership statuses, Job titles, Names, Nationalities, Phone numbers, Physical addresses
Status: Confirmed · Risk: Moderate (Phishing / SIM swap)
Summary
In March 2017, a 27GB database backup file named “Master Deeds” was sent to HIBP by a supporter of the project. Upon detailed analysis later that year the file was found to contain the personal data of tens of millions of living and deceased South African residents. The data included extensive personal attributes such as names addresses ethnicities genders birth dates government issued personal identification numbers and 2.2 million email addresses. At the time of publishing it’s alleged the data was sourced from Dracore Data Sciences (Dracore is yet to publicly confirm or deny the data was sourced from their systems). On 18 October 2017 the file was found to have been published to a publicly accessible web server where it was located at the root of an IP address with directory listing enabled. The file was dated 8 April 2015.
About Master Deeds
Master Deeds is the organization affected by this breach. User data may have been generated through account creation, service usage, or business operations.
If you have interacted with Master Deeds in any capacity, your data may be included in this breach.
Threat Actor: Unknown
The threat actor responsible for this breach has not been publicly identified or confirmed at this time.
- Under investigation
Breach Exploitation Status
Moderate
Status
Detected
Possible
Possible
Unknown
Unknown
5+ years (high persistence)
Dates of birth are permanent and addresses change slowly. Combined with other fields, this data sustains long-tail targeting risk.
Data Points Exposed
Dark Web Verification
Status: Confirmed
- Dataset containing approximately 2.3M+ records has been identified in breach intelligence sources.
- The data is indexed and searchable across breach notification platforms.
Impact
This breach carries moderate risk due to the nature of exposed data fields and the scale of affected records.
- Targeted phishing referencing Master Deeds accounts or services
- SIM-swap attempts where phone numbers are present
- Physical mail scams and address-based identity verification fraud
- Age/DOB used to bypass identity verification questions
- Data broker enrichment and resale
Recommendations for Impacted Individuals
If you believe your information may be included:
Non-clients may request a breach impact review.
Master Deeds account updates
Password reset requests
Verify directly through official channels.
Email compromise is often the first pivot point.
Frequently Asked Questions
In Mar, 2017, Master Deeds experienced a data breach that resulted in the exposure of approximately 2.3M+ records containing personal information.
The exposed data includes Dates of birth, Deceased statuses, Email, Employers, Ethnicities, Genders, Government issued IDs, Home ownership statuses, Job titles, Names, Nationalities, Phone numbers, Physical addresses.
Approximately 2.3M+ records were affected based on current breach intelligence.
Yes. This breach is treated as confirmed based on data observed in breach intelligence platforms.
Data circulation has been detected across breach-sharing channels. Downstream exploitation risk exists based on the nature of the exposed fields.
Rotate passwords associated with Master Deeds, enable multi-factor authentication on email and financial accounts, and monitor for suspicious activity.
Protect Yourself
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Corporate Accountability
Organizations that collect personal data have a duty to implement reasonable safeguards and to notify affected individuals when breaches occur.
Scope assessments may evolve as investigations continue. Users should not rely solely on early estimates when making risk decisions.
ObscureIQ Advisory
We combine proprietary dark web access with commercial and restricted breach intelligence to verify exposure and assess real-world risk.
- A public-facing individual
- A high-profile executive
- A customer of Master Deeds
- Or simply concerned about credential reuse
We can confirm whether your information is circulating and evaluate downstream threat vectors.