Breach Database / ViewFines

Yes — ViewFines was breached.

What happened

In May 2018, the South African website for viewing traffic fines online known as ViewFines suffered a data breach. Over 934k records containing 778k unique email addresses were exposed and included names, phone numbers, government issued IDs and passwords stored in plain text.

What data was exposed

What to do right now

  1. Change your password for this service now. And change it anywhere you reused the same password — attackers try leaked passwords on other sites within hours ("credential stuffing").
  2. Turn on two-factor authentication. Even a leaked password is useless against an account protected by a second factor. Prefer an authenticator app over SMS.
  3. Freeze your credit. A credit freeze at the major bureaus is free and blocks new accounts from being opened in your name.
  4. Be alert for smishing and SIM-swap attempts. Treat unexpected texts and "carrier" calls with suspicion; add a PIN/port-freeze with your mobile carrier.
  5. Expect convincing phishing emails. Attackers use breached details to write personalized emails. Be suspicious of any message referencing this service.
  6. Check your other accounts on Have I Been Pwned. Your email address may appear in other breaches you don't know about yet.
  7. Monitor the apps you use going forward. Clearly watches the breach record for the companies behind your apps and alerts you the moment one appears.

Breach data from Have I Been Pwned. Listing here means the service appears in the public breach record — not that your personal data was affected.