Scammers may have gained access to nearly a BILLION email address following one of the biggest ever internet data breaches.
Security researchers found sensitive personal information of millions of users on marketing website Verifications.io.
The mysterious site, which has since been taken down, marketed itself as a 'email verification' company.
Reports suggest that it had the email address of 808 million people listed in a database.
The data included a treasure trove of valuable information that included names, dates of birth, home addresses, email address and other social media information.
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The data leak was discovered by experienced cyber-security expert Bob Diachenko.
"This is perhaps the biggest and most comprehensive email database I have ever reported," Mr Diachenko wrote in a blog post.
"Upon verification, I was shocked at the massive number of emails that were publicly accessible for anyone with an internet connection.
"Some of data was much more detailed than just the email address and included personally identifiable information."
Diachenko says he was first found the unsecured database in February of this year.
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He immediately informed the website through its support team which later responded by saying the information was "publicly available".
Little is known about the Verifcations.io which has since gone offline and has removed traces of its existence from internet search engines.
It is unclear if cybercriminals or scammers were able to access the database before it was removed
