Experian 2020.0 Data Breach
ObscureIQ Breach Intelligence
Moderate SeverityWebsite / service breach
Experian South Africa Credit Bureau Breach (2020): 1.3 Million Customer Records Including Government ID Exposed
Credit reporting and data analytics company.
Verified by ObscureIQ Intelligence
40/100Breach Risk Index
33Data Value
10Market Recency
2136dSince Breach
Breach Intelligence Summary
Entity: Experian · Actor: Unknown · Sources: 2 references
Attack: Unknown
Profile: Company · Credit reporting and financial data analytics · Data aggregation and scoring services · Global
Timeline: Breach (2020-08-01) · Indexed (Sep 01, 2020) · Year (2020.0)
Exposure: 1.3M records · 6 fields: Email Address, Employer, Full Name, Government ID, Job Information, Phone Number
Status: Confirmed
Executive Summary
In 2020, Experian South Africa disclosed a breach in which personal data was released to a party fraudulently posing as a client. The dataset indexed here contains about 1.3 million records with email addresses; most records also included government-issued ID numbers, names, addresses, occupations, and employers. (The incident was reported to affect far more consumers overall.)
ObscureIQ assessment: This is a CONFIRMED Experian South Africa incident and is distinct from the separate, unverified 110M "Experian (2015)" dataset - do not conflate.
Breach Impact
Government ID numbers combined with names, addresses, occupation, and employer create serious identity-fraud exposure.
About Experian
Experian is a global consumer-credit reporting agency; this record concerns its South African operation.
Why They Hold Your Data
Credit bureaus aggregate highly sensitive identity and financial data including Social Security numbers, credit histories, addresses, employment data, and financial account relationships across millions of individuals.
Data Points Exposed
6 verified field types
Email Address
Employer
Full Name High
Government ID Critical
Job Information
Phone Number
Field names are shown in full for clarity and search visibility. Canonical machine keys are emitted only in this page’s structured data.
Exploitation & Downstream Threats
Threat Activity:High
Primary downstream threats:
- Identity theft and synthetic identity construction using government-issued IDs
- SIM swap attacks where phone numbers are present
- Targeted phishing campaigns using exposed email addresses
- Employment-based social engineering using job and employer data
Threat vectors:
- Phishing, credential stuffing & account takeover
- Business Email Compromise seeding
- Name-based social engineering
- Identity fraud with official bodies
- Occupation-specific phishing
- SIM swapping, vishing & SMS phishing
Recommended Actions
If you believe your information may be included:
Protect Your ID Documents
Government-ID exposure enables document fraud — monitor and report misuse.
Enable MFA Everywhere
Turn on multi-factor authentication on email first, then financial accounts.
Report & Recover
If you spot misuse, start an official recovery plan and report fraud.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened in the Experian breach?▾
In 2020, Experian South Africa disclosed a breach in which personal data was released to a party fraudulently posing as a client. The dataset indexed here contains about 1.3 million records with email addresses; most records also included government-issued ID numbers, names, addresses, occupations,…
What data was exposed?▾
Verified fields include Email Address, Employer, Full Name, Government ID, Job Information, Phone Number.
What should I do if I was affected?▾
Change reused passwords, enable MFA, and (if identity or financial data is involved) freeze your credit and monitor your accounts.
Sources & References
Every claim on this page is traceable. This breach draws on:
Breach Index
ObscureIQ Intelligence
ObscureIQ proprietary analysis
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