SHEIN 2018 Data Breach
ObscureIQ Breach Intelligence
Low SeverityWebsite / service breach
SHEIN Fast Fashion Platform Breach (2018): 39 Million Customer Accounts Including Weak MD5 Passwords Exposed
Online fast fashion retailer.
Verified by ObscureIQ Intelligence
19/100Breach Risk Index
10Data Value
10Market Recency
2548dSince Breach
Breach Intelligence Summary
Entity: SHEIN · Actor: Unknown · Sources: 6 references
Attack: Unknown
Profile: Platform · Fast fashion retail · E-commerce apparel marketplace · Global
Timeline: Breach (2018-06-01) · Indexed (Jul 17, 2019) · Year (2018)
Exposure: 39.1M records · 2 fields: Email Address, Password
Status: Confirmed
Executive Summary
In June 2018, fast-fashion retailer SHEIN suffered a data breach exposing 39 million customer accounts, discovered two months later. Exposed data included names, city/province information, email addresses, and passwords stored as MD5 hashes that investigators found were vulnerable enough to yield full password recovery.
ObscureIQ assessment: Exposure enables phishing, order fraud, delivery scams, and account takeover. Large-scale retail data also supports profiling and highly targeted customer-service impersonation.
Breach Impact
Recoverable MD5 passwords paired with names and location drive credential-stuffing and phishing risk; regulators specifically faulted the company for leaving most victims unnotified.
About SHEIN
SHEIN is a global online fast-fashion retailer selling low-cost apparel and accessories, operated by Zoetop Business Company, which also runs the ROMWE brand.
Why They Hold Your Data
Fast-fashion e-commerce platforms collect customer identity, contact details, addresses, order history, payment-adjacent data, and behavioral shopping signals across global retail operations.
Recent Developments
SHEIN’s owner Zoetop was later fined US$1.9 million by New York for failing to properly disclose the breach and notify most affected customers.
Data Points Exposed
2 verified field types
Email Address
Password Critical
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:Moderate
Primary downstream threats:
- Credential stuffing against reused passwords across other platforms
- Targeted phishing campaigns using exposed email addresses
Threat vectors:
- Phishing, credential stuffing & account takeover
- Credential stuffing & account takeover
Recommended Actions
If you believe your information may be included:
Change Reused Passwords
Update this account and anywhere you reused the password; use a manager.
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 SHEIN breach?▾
In June 2018, fast-fashion retailer SHEIN suffered a data breach exposing 39 million customer accounts, discovered two months later. Exposed data included names, city/province information, email addresses, and passwords stored as MD5 hashes that investigators found were vulnerable enough to yield…
What data was exposed?▾
Verified fields include Email Address, Password.
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
Breach Index
Cross-source
9ghz
Cross-source
Keeper
Cross-source
leakfind
ObscureIQ Intelligence
ObscureIQ proprietary analysis
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