Anonymous' Latest Leak of Donald Trump's Personal Information Is Probably a Hoax
The same information has been online since November.
Earlier tonight, a Twitter account claiming to be associated with Anonymous, the loosely-organized hacking collective, claimed to release Donald Trump’s personal information, including his Social Security Number, private phone number, and multiple addresses. Unfortunately for prospective prank-callers and identity thieves, it’s probably a hoax.
Anonymous declared war on Trump back in December, and recently claimed to have accessed his voicemail. A little after 4:00 p.m., @TheAnonMessage tweeted that something big was on the way for #OpTrump.
A few minutes afterward, it sent this out — a link to a Pastebin image claiming to have Donald Trump’s personal information.
The Pastebin link, screenshotted below in case it’s removed, is a pretty comprehensive list of Trump’s personal details — but contains no proof of authenticity.
Nice choice of a serif-heavy typewriter font to make this look more authentic.
Twitter users quickly pointed out that most of this information, including the 086-38-5955 Social Security number, has already been floating around the internet for months.
The information appeared at least as early as November 2015, in this Facebook post by a group called Hydra Hacking United.
Ending a post in "lol" is a great way to get taken seriously.
Other Anonymous Twitter accounts called bullshit on TheAnonMessage’s post as well.
The information doesn’t appear to be very useful either, either because it was outdated or just fabricated in the first place. The listed cell phone number for Trump goes straight to voicemail — and it’s also one that Trump publicly tweeted back in August.
Several of the listed addresses aren’t particularly revealing either. 6500 Okeechobee Boulevard, West Palm Beach, FL 33411, for example, is an empty field in front of an Enterprise Rent-a-Car lot.
This is all par for the course for Anonymous. The collective’s decentralized, sprawling, anarchic nature means it’s filled with impostors, posers, and people just looking for attention. But that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous — the real hackers in the group are usually less showy, but are very much capable of pulling off massive operations. Anonymous has declared another war, set for April Fools’ Day — but again, it’s difficult to confirm anything it says, so check any leaked information carefully.
