Following last April’s leak, which was reportedly affected by 533 million users, it was revealed that the data of 178 million users had been leaked for the same reason.

Social media platform Facebook has sued Ukrainian Alexander Alexandrovich Solonchenko for allegedly stealing the basic profile information and phone numbers of nearly 178 million users by abusing a Messenger feature and then putting them up for sale on a forum.

Facebook said Solonchenko took advantage of Messenger’s contacts transfer feature, which was discontinued in 2019, by using an automated tool that spoofs Android devices between January 2018 and September 2019, and violated Facebook’s terms of service by attempting to access unauthorized data.

According to company lawyers, the information of approximately 178 million Facebook users was put up for sale by Solonchenko on Raid Forums in 2020 and started selling it in 2021. Facebook also stated that as a result of Solonchenko’s research on the forum profile, a bank in Ukraine had previously seized the data of its users and put it up for sale.

The social media platform has filed an undisclosed claim for measures preventing Solonchenko from selling the data she seized.

In another incident that occurred in April this year, it was announced that the information of 533 million users was accessed by using the same feature.