The credit reporting company 700Credit revealed a massive breach that exposed sensitive personal data of 5.6 million consumers such as Social Security numbers, names, addresses, and credit scores that is utilized by lenders and employers. It happened due to unauthorized access to the database of a third-party vendor between November 28 and October 15, which was first revealed in early December 2025 and the event was one of the largest credit data spills in the year. The impacted people are exposed to increased risks of identity theft causing free credit monitoring packages and federal scrutiny of financial service systems as cyber threats continue to increase.
Breach Scope and Stolen Data
Hackers used a weak portal belonging to a vendor to gain access to core customer records without their knowledge over a period of six weeks.
– Complete SSNs, dates of birth and previous/current addresses of all 5.6M victims.
– Credit report, investigation, and account record on 2.1M subset.
– No bank information or password lost, according to forensic analysis.
Information leaked into dark web markets by December 5 and initiated panic over frauds.
How the Breach Happened
After a misconfigured API endpoint on Gradient Analytics partner cloud storage (which enabled unlimited queries) allowed unauthorized access to the data, 700Credit blamed it.
| Timeline | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct 15 | Unauthorized access begins |
| Nov 28 | Activity stops; anomaly detected |
| Dec 3 | Breach confirmed via logs |
| Dec 10 | Public notice filed with states |
No ransom, unadulterated data exfiltration before the defense mechanisms assumed action.
Who is Impacted
The victims are auto lenders, mortgage companies and human resource departments that make use of 700Credit pulls.
– Mainly U.S. adults between 25-65 years old who have made recent credit applications.
– Increased vulnerability to new movers and bankruptcy filers.
-No foreign exposure; 100 percent domestic.
Notices were mailed by the company on December 15; class-action suits were filed the same day.
Immediate Response Steps
700Credit will be used to initiate incident response, in which case victims and regulators will be advised of the occurrence within 72 hours of detection.
– Reboot all vendor keys and API keys.
– Contracted Mandiant to do root-cause forensics.
– Captured 2-year free credit report through Experian.
Affected persons receive insurance of identity theft (1M) and SSN lock tools.
Fraud Protection to Victims
Immediately lock and watch over the misuse of an account.
– Freeze at Equifax, Transunion, Experian.
– Scan approval statements of unapproved loans or new accounts.
– Fill in IRS Form 14039 identity the fraud affidavit.
– Turn on 2FA: Be suspicious of mail.
Annualcreditreport.com provides free annual credit report to identify problems.
Background and Fallout of the Company
One of the smaller players that provides instant pulls to subprime lenders and fintechs is 700Credit.com, which is also known as 700Credit.
– Annually P10M+ reports; dependence on vendors revealed weaknesses.
– Shares dropped by 15 per cent; Chief Executive issued video apology.
– FTC investigation initiated; possible over 100M in fines.
Competitors such as TransUnion were holding integrations until they were audited.
Quick FAQs
Q1: What was stolen? What was the specific data?
SSN, name, address, date of birth, and credit information of 5.6M individuals.
Q2: How do I know if I’m affected?
Send alert or check mail on 700creditbreach.com.
Q3: Is my info safe now?
Freeze credit; watch 2 years at least to reveal fraud.