A hacker said they purloined personal details from millions of OpenAI accounts-but researchers are hesitant, and the business is investigating.

OpenAI states it's examining after a hacker claimed to have actually swiped login credentials for 20 million of the AI firm's user accounts-and put them up for sale on a dark web online forum.

The pseudonymous breacher posted a puzzling message in Russian advertising "more than 20 million gain access to codes to OpenAI accounts," calling it "a goldmine" and using potential buyers what they claimed was sample information containing email addresses and passwords. As reported by Gbhackers, the complete dataset was being sold "for simply a couple of dollars."

"I have over 20 million gain access to codes for OpenAI accounts," emirking wrote Thursday, according to an equated screenshot. "If you're interested, reach out-this is a goldmine, and Jesus agrees."

If legitimate, photorum.eclat-mauve.fr this would be the third major security occurrence for the AI company considering that the release of ChatGPT to the public. Last year, a hacker got access to the company's internal Slack messaging system. According to The New York Times, the hacker "stole details about the style of the business's A.I. technologies."

Before that, in 2023 an even including jailbreaking prompts enabled hackers to obtain the private data of OpenAI's paying clients.

This time, however, security scientists aren't even sure a hack occurred. Daily Dot press reporter Mikael Thalan wrote on X that he found invalid email addresses in the expected sample data: "No evidence (recommends) this supposed OpenAI breach is genuine. A minimum of 2 addresses were void. The user's only other post on the online forum is for a thief log. Thread has actually given that been deleted also."

No evidence this alleged OpenAI breach is genuine.

Contacted every email address from the supposed sample of login qualifications.

At least 2 addresses were void. The user's just other post on the forum is for forum.altaycoins.com a stealer log. Thread has since been erased as well. https://t.co/yKpmxKQhsP

- Mikael Thalen (@MikaelThalen) February 6, 2025

OpenAI takes it 'seriously'

In a statement shared with Decrypt, an OpenAI representative acknowledged the situation while maintaining that the company's systems appeared safe and secure.

"We take these claims seriously," the representative said, including: "We have actually not seen any evidence that this is connected to a compromise of OpenAI systems to date."

The scope of the supposed breach triggered issues due to OpenAI's huge user base. Millions of users worldwide count on the company's tools like ChatGPT for company operations, academic functions, and material generation. A genuine breach could expose personal conversations, industrial jobs, and other sensitive data.

Until there's a last report, some preventive measures are always advisable:

- Go to the "Configurations" tab, log out from all linked devices, and allow two-factor authentication or 2FA. This makes it essentially impossible for a hacker to gain access to the account, even if the login and passwords are compromised.

• If your bank supports it, then create a virtual card number to manage OpenAI memberships. In this manner, it is simpler to spot and avoid scams.
• Always keep an eye on the discussions stored in the chatbot's memory, and be aware of any phishing attempts. OpenAI does not request any individual details, and any payment update is always dealt with through the main OpenAI.com link.