Dark Web News Analysis: Database of Singaporean Job Seeker Leads on Sale
A large database containing the detailed personal and professional information of over 150,000 Singaporean job hunting leads is being sold on a hacker forum. The data is allegedly recent, spanning from 2024 to 2025. This breach is exceptionally severe due to the inclusion of highly sensitive, government-issued identification numbers. A compromise of this nature puts a significant portion of the Singaporean workforce at high risk. The leaked data reportedly includes:
- PII and Contact Info: Emails, full names, mobile numbers, and locations.
- Professional History: Current and previous job positions, and academic qualifications.
- Highly Sensitive Government IDs: NRIC (National Registration Identity Card) numbers, work permit numbers, and permanent residency numbers.
- Record Count: Over 150,000 individual records from 2024-2025.
Key Cybersecurity Insights
The combination of professional data with national identity numbers like the NRIC creates a worst-case scenario for identity theft and targeted fraud.
- Leak of NRIC Numbers is a National-Level Identity Theft Threat: The Singaporean NRIC is a unique national identifier used for nearly all official government and commercial transactions, including banking. Its exposure, combined with a person’s full name, contact details, and professional history, is a catastrophic event. It provides criminals with all the tools needed to commit high-level, sophisticated identity theft that is extremely difficult to detect and reverse.
- Job Seekers are a Uniquely Vulnerable Target: Individuals who are actively looking for jobs are psychologically primed to engage with unsolicited communications from “recruiters,” open attachments containing “job descriptions,” and provide additional personal information during fake application processes. This database provides criminals with a ready-made list of these vulnerable targets for highly effective and malicious recruitment scams.
- Recent Data (2024-2025) Maximizes Value and Usability: Unlike older, stale data, this database is allegedly recent. This means the contact information is likely still active and the professional details are current, making it far more valuable and immediately useful to criminals for launching effective campaigns.
Critical Mitigation Strategies
As the source of the leak is unspecified, all employers and individuals active in the Singaporean job market must adopt a heightened security posture.
- For Singaporean Employers and HR Departments: All companies, especially their HR departments, must immediately reinforce security awareness training. This training should focus on helping employees spot sophisticated recruitment-related phishing scams (e.g., fake resumes with malware) and social engineering attempts.
- For Individuals in the Singaporean Job Market: Anyone who has been active in the job market in Singapore since 2024 should assume their data could be in this leak. It is critical to be on maximum alert for signs of identity theft by closely monitoring bank accounts and credit reports. Be extremely suspicious of all unsolicited job offers or requests for personal information, even if the sender knows your detailed professional history.
- For Affected Individuals: Secure Online Professional Profiles: As a proactive measure, individuals should review the privacy settings on their professional networking accounts (like LinkedIn). Ensure that sensitive personal contact information is not publicly visible, and be wary of connecting with unknown or suspicious recruiter profiles.
Secure Your Organization with Brinztech As a cybersecurity provider, we can protect your business from the threats discussed here. Contact us to learn more about our services.
Questions or Feedback? For expert advice, use our ‘Ask an Analyst’ feature. For general inquiries or to report this post, please email us: contact@brinztech.com
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