TGBUS 2017 Data Breach
ObscureIQ Breach Intelligence
Moderate SeverityWebsite / service breach
TGBUS Chinese Gaming Portal Breach (2017): 10.4 Million User Accounts Exposed :: Authenticity Unverified
Chinese gaming and news portal
Verified by ObscureIQ Intelligence
49/100Breach Risk Index
50Data Value
10Market Recency
2993dSince Breach
Breach Intelligence Summary
Entity: TGBUS · Actor: Unknown · Sources: 7 references
Attack: Unknown
Profile: Media Platform · Gaming media and player community services · Gaming news portal · China
Timeline: Breach (2017-09-01) · Indexed (Apr 28, 2018) · Year (2017)
Exposure: 10.4M records · 7 fields: Email Address, Financial Account, Government ID, Password, Physical Address, Security Q&A, Username
Status: Disputed
Executive Summary
In approximately 2017, the Chinese gaming media portal TGBUS (tgbus.com) allegedly suffered a data breach impacting over 10 million subscribers (some reporting cites ~12.9M), added to Have I Been Pwned in 2018 as "unverified." Exposed data reportedly included usernames, email addresses, and salted MD5 passwords, plus passport IDs, account status, game codes, security questions and answers, addresses, and payment details. If genuine, the combination enables identity theft, financial fraud, and account-recovery bypass beyond ordinary credential stuffing.
ObscureIQ assessment: Breaches of gaming media portals usually create credential, phishing, and impersonation risk rather than highly specialized sensitivity. Risk can still be meaningful if the user base is large, if the records include persistent usernames and emails, or if compromised credentials were reused across other services.
Breach Impact
Beyond credential-stuffing risk from usernames/emails/salted-MD5 passwords, the reported inclusion of passport IDs, addresses, payment details, and security questions/answers materially raises identity-theft, financial-fraud, and account-recovery-bypass risk. Authenticity is unverified, but if genuine the field richness makes this more damaging than a typical credential dump.
About TGBUS
TGBUS (tgbus.com) is a long-running Chinese video-game media and community portal offering game news, downloads, guides, and player services.
Why They Hold Your Data
Chinese gaming and news portal serving players through media content, community features, and account-based engagement. Likely data includes user identity elements, account records, forum or comment activity, and gaming-interest metadata.
Recent Developments
The TGBUS dataset dates to around 2017 and was added to Have I Been Pwned in 2018 as "unverified." Reporting indicates the exposed data was unusually rich for a gaming portal, including passport IDs, addresses, payment details, and security Q&A alongside credentials.
Data Points Exposed
7 verified field types
Email Address
Financial Account
Government ID Critical
Password Critical
Physical Address High
Security Q&A Critical
Username
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:Critical
Primary downstream threats:
- Identity theft using passport IDs, name, and address
- Financial fraud using exposed payment details
- Account-recovery/KBA bypass using exposed security questions & answers
- Credential stuffing against reused passwords (salted MD5)
- Targeted phishing using exposed emails
Threat vectors:
- Full identity theft & synthetic identity fraud
- Financial account & payment fraud
- Account-recovery/KBA bypass (security Q&A)
- Credential stuffing & account takeover
- Phishing & social engineering
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.
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 TGBUS breach?▾
In approximately 2017, the Chinese gaming media portal TGBUS (tgbus.com) allegedly suffered a data breach impacting over 10 million subscribers (some reporting cites ~12.9M), added to Have I Been Pwned in 2018 as "unverified." Exposed data reportedly included usernames, email addresses, and salted…
What data was exposed?▾
Verified fields include Email Address, Financial Account, Government ID, Password, Physical Address, Security Q&A, Username.
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
Cross-source
9ghz
Cross-source
BreachForums_Official_Index
Cross-source
Dehashed
Cross-source
Keeper
Cross-source
leakfind
ObscureIQ Intelligence
ObscureIQ proprietary analysis
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