Instant Checkmate
HIGH RISKData breach — April 2019
In 2019, the public records search service Instant Checkmate suffered a data breach that later came to light in early 2023. The data included almost 12M unique customer email addresses, names, phone numbers and passwords stored as scrypt hashes.
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What happened in the Instant Checkmate data breach?
In 2019, the public records search service Instant Checkmate suffered a data breach that later came to light in early 2023. The data included almost 12M unique customer email addresses, names, phone numbers and passwords stored as scrypt hashes.
The exposed data included 4 types of personal information. Because passwords were exposed, users who reused their password on other sites are at particular risk. Learn more about what a data breach means for you.
Quick answer — was Instant Checkmate hacked?
Yes. Instant Checkmate was breached in April 2019. The breach exposed 11,943,887 records including email addresses, names, passwords. This breach has been independently verified. If your email was involved, your data may still be at risk today. Check if you were affected.
Why was the Instant Checkmate breach so dangerous?
The Instant Checkmate breach exposed 11,943,887 records — that is 11.9M people whose personal data is now circulating on the dark web. The combination of email addresses, names, passwords makes this a high-risk breach that requires immediate action.
Because passwords were exposed, attackers can use credential stuffing to automatically test your Instant Checkmate password against hundreds of other websites. If you reused your password anywhere, those accounts are now at risk. Read more about what happens to your data after a breach.
Don't wait to find out — check if your email was exposed in this breach now.
What data was stolen in the Instant Checkmate breach?
Email addresses — used for phishing attacks and credential stuffing against your other accounts
Names — used to build profiles and target you with personalised scams
Passwords — can be used to access your accounts directly or cracked to reveal your actual password
Phone numbers — enables SIM swapping attacks and targeted SMS phishing scams
Is the Instant Checkmate breach still dangerous in 2026?
Yes. Stolen data from the Instant Checkmate breach remains dangerous years after the incident. Research shows that over 65% of stolen credentials from older breaches have never been changed by the account holders. Attackers routinely compile data from multiple breaches to build complete profiles, and credentials from 2019 are still actively used in credential stuffing attacks today.
Personal information like email addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth never expire. Even if you changed your Instant Checkmate password, the other exposed data can be combined with information from other breaches to target you. Learn more about how long stolen data stays dangerous.
Frequently asked about the Instant Checkmate breach
Approximately 11,943,887 user records were exposed in the Instant Checkmate breach in April 2019.
Yes. Leaked credentials are actively used in credential stuffing attacks years after a breach. If you reused your Instant Checkmate password elsewhere and haven't changed it, those accounts remain at risk today.
Enter your email in the free checker on EmailLeaked. We scan 12 billion+ breach records including the full Instant Checkmate dataset and tell you instantly whether your email was exposed and what data was taken.
Change your Instant Checkmate password immediately, change any other account where you used the same password, enable two-factor authentication on all important accounts, and monitor for phishing emails over the next 90 days.
Who was affected by the Instant Checkmate breach?
The Instant Checkmate data breach affected approximately 11,943,887 users who had accounts with the service. With 11.9M records exposed, this is one of the larger breaches tracked in our database of 970+ known breaches.
If you ever created an account with Instant Checkmate or used their services, your data may have been included in this breach. Check your email now to find out. You can also read our guide on what to do immediately after a data breach.
If your email was in the Instant Checkmate breach
Change your Instant Checkmate password immediately
Go to Instant Checkmate and change your password right now. Use a strong, unique password that you have never used anywhere else.
Change any account sharing that password
If you used the same password on other sites, change it on every one of them. Attackers test stolen credentials on hundreds of popular sites within hours.
Enable two-factor authentication
Turn on 2FA on Instant Checkmate and every important account. Even if your password is known, attackers cannot get in without the second factor.
Check your other accounts for this breach
Run a full email check to see every breach your email appears in — not just this one.
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