Twitter

Medium

About 6.7 million Twitter emails sat in the 2022 API reverse-lookup file — phones and profile fields on many rows, not passwords. Check whether your address is in that file, then treat a matched number as the first job.

6.7M
Records exposed
2022
Year
7
Data types
Free
To check
Check if you were affected — free

Quick answer — was Twitter breached?

Yes — this page is the January 2022 Twitter API reverse-lookup incident, about 6.7 million unique emails with phones and public profile fields. Passwords were not included. It is not the 200 million-email dump. A match means your address appeared in that smaller file. Check if you were affected.

What happened in the Twitter data breach?

This catalog row is the smaller Twitter / X API reverse-lookup file — about 6.7 million unique email addresses — not the 211-million-email dump and not a password theft. In January 2022 a vulnerability let operators submit an email address or phone number and receive the matching account. Twitter later said the bug had been introduced in June 2021, that it patched the issue, and that it was notifying some people in August 2022. The listed fields include email or phone plus public profile data: username, display name, bio, location, and profile photo. A separate list of about 1.4 million addresses from suspended accounts sat alongside the live-account set.

Passwords were not in the file. The durable harm is a phone number or inbox sitting next to a real handle. A published number is raw material for SMS phishing and for SIM-swap attempts that try to steal text-message login codes. A published inbox is a phishing hook. Bios and locations make the mail sound local. Changing an X password does not unsay the number.

Press first described a sale of about 5.4 million user records, then free posts of that set. This lookup’s unique-email count is 6.7 million across active and suspended accounts. That is a counting difference, not a second company hack. The high-demand “200 million Twitter emails” story is the other slug: [Twitter (200M)](/breaches/twitter200m/). Learn more about what a data breach means for you.

Why was the Twitter breach so dangerous?

Passwords were not in the file. The durable harm is a phone number or inbox sitting next to a real handle. A published number is raw material for SMS phishing and for SIM-swap attempts that try to steal text-message login codes. A published inbox is a phishing hook. Bios and locations make the mail sound local. Changing an X password does not unsay the number.

Yes, for the phone-and-phishing playbook, not the password playbook. Numbers and emails from 2021–2022 are still useful in 2026. A password change alone does not fix this match. Move important accounts off SMS codes, treat unexpected texts as hostile, and assume your number can be looked up next to your handle.check whether your email was exposed in this breach.

What data was stolen in the Twitter breach?

Bios Email addresses Geographic locations Names Phone numbers Profile photos Usernames

Bios — may be combined with other breach data to build a profile for targeted attacks

Email addresses — used for phishing attacks and credential stuffing against your other accounts

Geographic locations — may be combined with other breach data to build a profile for targeted attacks

Names — used to build profiles and target you with personalised scams

Phone numbers — enables SIM-swapping attacks and targeted SMS phishing

Profile photos — may be combined with other breach data to build a profile for targeted attacks

Usernames — used to build profiles and target you with personalised scams

Timeline of the Twitter breach

June 2021

Twitter later says a bug that lets contact details resolve to accounts is introduced

December 2021–January 2022

Operators abuse the API to build email- and phone-linked profile sets; Twitter patches the flaw in January 2022

August 2022

A set of about 5.4 million Twitter records is offered for sale; Twitter publishes a notice and says it is notifying some people

August 2022

This catalog row is added at about 6.7 million unique emails across active and suspended accounts

November 2022

The 5.4 million-record set is posted freely; contemporaneous reporting lists phones or emails plus public profile fields

January 2023

A separate ~200 million-email scrape is published — listed here as Twitter (200M), not this slug

2022–2026

Copies remain in phishing and SIM-swap kits; published numbers and emails stay useful

Is the Twitter breach still dangerous in 2026?

Yes, for the phone-and-phishing playbook, not the password playbook. Numbers and emails from 2021–2022 are still useful in 2026. A password change alone does not fix this match. Move important accounts off SMS codes, treat unexpected texts as hostile, and assume your number can be looked up next to your handle.

Phone numbers and bios do not expire. An authenticator app or a hardware key ages SMS-based takeover out of your life. Learn how long stolen data stays dangerous.

Is this the 200 million-email Twitter dump?

No. The high-demand story people mean by “the Twitter / X breach” is usually Twitter (200M): a 2021 email-to-profile scrape published in January 2023, about 211.5 million unique inboxes, without phone numbers in that catalog row.

This slug is the earlier, smaller file Twitter discussed in August 2022. Industry-standard breach data sources list it under the plain Twitter name with a January 2022 date. The data types here include phone numbers, bios, locations, and profile photos. Do not invent a 200-million-row hit from this page.

Both files come from API reverse-lookup abuse, not from a stolen password table. The playbook is still de-anonymisation, phishing, and — on this row — phone-number risk.

  • This row — January 2022 API file, ~6.7 million emails, phones and richer profile fields.
  • Twitter (200M) — January 2023 publication of a 2021 email scrape, ~211.5 million inboxes.
  • Neither file contains passwords. Do not merge them into one story.

What does an EmailLeaked Twitter match mean?

If your address is in the 6.7-million-email file, EmailLeaked shows a named Twitter match the same way it shows any other named incident. The row is a lookup against industry-standard breach data sources. We do not claim an exclusive copy of the 5.4-million-record sale, and we do not crawl hidden markets live.

A match is not proof someone is inside your X session this week. It is evidence that the address — and typically a phone number or profile fields from that era — appeared in a file that has been public since 2022. A miss is a snapshot of the records we can search today. We do not keep the address you type into the checker. Hosting logs and a privacy-oriented analytics beacon can still record that the page was visited.

If you want the response order in one place, use what to do after a data breach and the phone playbook there. For a second public index, see free data breach checkers. Closing an account you no longer use is the X delete guide.

What to do if your email was in the Twitter breach

1

Confirm the match and which Twitter file it is

Run the email check if you need the named incidents in one list. This Twitter row lists phones and profile fields, not passwords. The large dump is Twitter (200M).

Check this email — free
2

Move important logins off SMS codes

Turn on two-factor authentication with an authenticator app or a hardware key on email, banking, and X. A published number makes a text-message code easier to steal via SIM swap or SMS phishing.

3

Treat unexpected texts and “X security” mail as hostile

The file gives scammers a handle, a number or inbox, and often a bio or location. Do not tap links in surprise reset messages. Walk the account security checklist.

Open the account checklist
4

Follow the after-breach playbook

Use the first-hour and 24-hour lists, then the phone / email-only playbook. A Twitter match on this page is not the password-leak playbook unless a different incident also listed passwords.

Open the after-breach playbook
5

Compare how public checkers differ

A second lookup does not unsay a published number. It can show you how different public indexes present the same named incident.

Read the checker comparison
6

Close X if you no longer use it

Deletion does not unsay the published number or handle. It stops a leftover X login from sitting around. Deactivate, wait out the window, then lock the email that still recovers other accounts.

How to delete your X (Twitter) account

Frequently asked about the Twitter breach

Which Twitter / X incident is this page about?
The January 2022 API reverse-lookup file. This catalog row is about 6.7 million unique emails with phone numbers and public profile fields on many rows. Twitter said the bug started in June 2021, was patched in January 2022, and that it notified some people in August 2022.
Is this the 200 million-email Twitter leak?
No. That story is the [Twitter (200M)](/breaches/twitter200m/) row: a 2021 email-to-profile scrape published in January 2023, about 211.5 million unique inboxes, without phones in that catalog listing.
Were passwords exposed in this Twitter file?
No. The risk is de-anonymisation, phishing, and phone-number abuse — not a stolen X password table. Still use a unique password and an authenticator app.
Why do articles say 5.4 million and this page says 6.7 million?
Press described a 5.4 million-record sale and later free posts. This lookup counts unique email addresses across active and suspended accounts, including a separate suspended-account list of about 1.4 million addresses. Same incident class, different count.
How does EmailLeaked show a Twitter match?
As a named row in the email checker, using industry-standard breach data sources. This explainer is the plain-English layer: 2022 API file, phones and profile fields, not the 200 million-email dump. We do not claim exclusive ownership of the set.
Is this Twitter file still dangerous in 2026?
Yes, for phishing and SIM-swap risk. The bindings of handle, number, and email do not expire. Authenticator-app two-factor authentication and skepticism toward unexpected texts are what age this file out of your life.

How this breach page is reviewed

Breach pages are built from structured breach records and reviewed for practical risk guidance by EmailLeaked. Risk labels reflect exposed data types and are intended to help readers prioritise action.

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