Wednesday, 27 November 2024 - 14:30
Andrew Tate's $50 per month platform hacked; At least 600 Dutch people's data leaked
American influencer Andrew Tate’s “educational platform” for which members pay 50 dollars a month has been hacked. The data and private chat messages of hundreds of thousands of members were leaked. That includes at least 600 Dutch people, RTL Nieuws
reported [in Dutch] after investigating the hack.
An unknown group of “hacktivists” broke into The Real World - Tate’s platform that promises insight into entrepreneurship and financial freedom, but mostly consists of Tat spouting and members sharing hatred against women, feminists, and the LGBTQIA+ community. The hackers immediately published the data they accessed, including usernames, email addresses, and members’ public and private chat messages. According to the hackers, the platform was “laughably unsafe.”
The fact that email addresses are included in the leak is very sensitive. Many people use a fake name or nickname when interacting with anything Tate-related because they don’t want their real identity connected to such a controversial figure, according to RTL.
The broadcaster found around 600 Dutch email addresses ending in .nl. The actual number of Dutch users is likely much higher because many people also use international emails like Gmail and Outlook. Among the .nl email addresses are multiple students who used their university or college email to sign up. Several large companies are also on the list.
The leaked chat messages involve a lot of insults to women and young men giving each other relationship advice, mostly coming down to them dumping their girlfriends to focus on making money, according to RTL. There is also a lot of advice on which cryptocurrencies to buy.
In addition to leaking the data, the hackers flooded the chat rooms with pride, transgender, and feminist emojis. An AI-generated image of Tate wearing a rainbow flag is also widely shared.
Tate is a self-proclaimed misogynist known for claiming that women are “naturally lazy” and can’t be independent, and that depression and mental illness are fabrications to “justify the failures” of lazy people who have to try harder “to make themselves happy.” His audience mainly consists of boys and young men.
At the end of last year, the Romanian authorities arrested Tate and his brother Tristan on suspicion of human trafficking, rape, and forming a criminal organization aimed at sexually exploiting women. The British authorities also suspect the brothers of sexual abuse.