This is how much your stolen account IDs are worth online

Stolen credentials are listed for sale on marketplaces hiding on the dark web (Photo: Shutterstock)Stolen credentials are listed for sale on marketplaces hiding on the dark web (Photo: Shutterstock)
Stolen credentials are listed for sale on marketplaces hiding on the dark web (Photo: Shutterstock)

Your stolen account IDs could be worth up to thousands of pounds on various marketplaces online, new research has revealed.

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Stolen credentials are listed for sale on marketplaces hiding on the dark web, with bank details commanding the highest price.

Valuable information

Cyber investigator Simon Migliano discovered that criminals are selling bank details, credit card information and login details for various online services as part of research for a BBC Watchdog episode.

Stolen credentials are listed on the dark web much like a regular product listing on eBay and have often been scooped by cyber criminals from data breaches or accidental leaks.

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Migliano, who works as head of research at Top10VPN.com, said the prices for such details have increased by almost three times on average, compared to the start of the year.

This means that a person's identity could potentially now be worth £2,400 - an increase of £1,600 from prices in February.

While bank and credit card information demands the highest price, criminals are also selling details for popular online services, including Netflix, Spotify and Airbnb.

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Presenter Steph McGovern, who hosted the Watchdog Live episode said, "It seems mad that we’re walking round with a bounty on our heads, and we don’t know it.

"All of our details have their own value."

Criminals are selling details for online services, including Netflix, Spotify and Airbnb (Photo: Shutterstock)

How much is your information worth?

This is how much criminals charge for each piece of login information they have stolen from you, according to the research.

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Bank Accounts – £1,025.99Personal PayPal – £84.48Credit Cards – £32.74Spotify – £5.05Debit Cards – £45.92Uber – £8.90Amazon – £22.09Yahoo Email – £3.89British Airways – £133.55Morrisons – £15.95Scan of your Driver’s licence – £13.28Apple ID – £8.67eBay – £25.20Nectar – £7.02Facebook – £13.93Gmail – £4.48Netflix – £13.59Domino’s – £3.97Ocado – £4.27Deliveroo – £3.35Ryanair – £0.96Twitter – £1.54Skype – £0.76Tesco – £0.98AirBnB – £19.78

Surging prices

The most notable increases in price include login information for Airbnb, Facebook and PayPal, due to the scope of potential fraud that can be committed by scammers in possession of these accounts, the research found.

Speaking of the findings to the Metro, Migliano said, "Our personal data is being bought and sold every day on the dark web by criminals hoping to use it to commit identity theft and turn a profit by fraudulently opening lines of credit.

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"Any set of log-in details can be valuable to an online fraudster. Everything from streaming services and social media to online shopping accounts can open the door to lucrative scams.

"And if you reuse passwords then a single hacked account can suddenly become dozens, giving fraudsters access to all the information they need to piece together your identity.

"Consumers should also be aware that the price tag on their data has surged in recent months following the shutdown of two major markets on the dark web and the subsequent squeeze on the availability of stolen personal info.

"Would-be scammers will be looking at hacked accounts and seeing dollar signs."

This article originally appeared on our sister site, Sunderland Echo.

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