ShinyHunters claim to have stolen data on nearly all FBI agents; bureau says it is investigating

The digital extortion group ShinyHunters claimed on Tuesday that it had breached the FBI and stolen personal data on “almost ALL FBI Agents, and individuals who filed an application with the FBI for a job”. The bureau said it was “aware of claims regarding unauthorized activity affecting FBIjobs.gov and is currently investigating.”

The group made the claim in a statement on its dark-web site and in an online chat with Reuters, saying the attack was retaliation for a May 2026 FBI announcement that detailed ShinyHunters’ methods and advised targets not to pay, Reuters reported on 22 September.

As proof, ShinyHunters offered what it said was a screenshot of a vandalised FBI jobs site and data on roughly 5,000 agents, described as a sample of the full haul. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the screenshot, but said the jobs site and the bureau’s Special Agent Applicant Portal were “currently unavailable” on Tuesday.

The sample appeared to contain agents’ names, home addresses, Social Security numbers, assignments and, in some cases, family members’ names. Reuters said it partially verified the material against credit-bureau records and previously breached data held by the intelligence firm District 4 Labs, with at least 10 instances — including FBI Director Kash Patel — appearing to match. The news agency could not establish where the data came from or whether it had been stolen from FBI systems as claimed. Axios said it could not independently verify the data’s legitimacy or currency, while 404 Media also obtained a sample appearing to cover about 5,000 people identified as FBI agents, the Times of India reported.

Former FBI official Cynthia Kaiser called breaches like the one claimed “incredibly harmful”, telling Reuters the stolen data could be used to expose and put pressure on the investigators pursuing the attackers. “Once that information is stolen, it is used forever,” she said.