MediaWorks
MEDIUM RISKData breach — March 2023
In March 2024, millions of rows of data from the New Zealand media company MediaWorks was publicly posted to a popular hacking forum. The incident exposed 163k unique email addresses provided by visitors who filled out online competitions and included names, physical addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, genders and the responses to questions in the competition. Some victims of the breach subsequently received ransom demands requesting payment to have their data deleted.
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What happened in the MediaWorks data breach?
In March 2024, millions of rows of data from the New Zealand media company MediaWorks was publicly posted to a popular hacking forum. The incident exposed 163k unique email addresses provided by visitors who filled out online competitions and included names, physical addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, genders and the responses to questions in the competition. Some victims of the breach subsequently received ransom demands requesting payment to have their data deleted.
The exposed data included 5 types of personal information. Learn more about what a data breach means for you.
Quick answer — was MediaWorks hacked?
Yes. MediaWorks was breached in March 2023. The breach exposed 162,710 records including dates of birth, email addresses, genders. 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 MediaWorks breach so dangerous?
The MediaWorks breach exposed 162,710 records — that is a large number of compromised accounts. The combination of dates of birth, email addresses, genders makes this a medium-risk breach that should be addressed promptly.
Don't wait to find out — check if your email was exposed in this breach now.
What data was stolen in the MediaWorks breach?
Dates of birth — used to verify identity for account takeover and fraud
Email addresses — used for phishing attacks and credential stuffing against your other accounts
Genders — may be combined with other breach data to build a profile for targeted attacks
Phone numbers — enables SIM swapping attacks and targeted SMS phishing scams
Physical addresses — combined with other data, used for identity theft and physical fraud
Is the MediaWorks breach still dangerous in 2026?
Yes. Stolen data from the MediaWorks 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 2023 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 MediaWorks 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 MediaWorks breach
Approximately 162,710 user records were exposed in the MediaWorks breach in March 2023.
Yes. Leaked credentials are actively used in credential stuffing attacks years after a breach. If you reused your MediaWorks 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 MediaWorks dataset and tell you instantly whether your email was exposed and what data was taken.
Change your MediaWorks 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 MediaWorks breach?
The MediaWorks data breach affected approximately 162,710 users who had accounts with the service. While not the largest breach on record, it still represents a significant number of compromised accounts in our database of 970+ known breaches.
If you ever created an account with MediaWorks 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 MediaWorks breach
Change your MediaWorks password immediately
Go to MediaWorks 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 MediaWorks 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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