Breach · · 4 min read
Crime Stoppers tips leak: what Canadian tipsters should know
A CBC investigation found more than 1.5 million Canadian Crime Stoppers tips in data stolen from the platform that stored them. About half held personal details.
Crime Stoppers has always made one promise: you can tell them what you know without anyone learning who you are. On October 21, 2026, CBC News reported that more than 1.5 million tips sent to Canadian Crime Stoppers programs over 25 years were in data stolen from the company that stored them. If you ever sent a tip, or think you may have been named in one, here’s what is known and what you can do.
What happened
Crime Stoppers chapters used P3 Global Intel, a tip platform owned by the U.S. company Navigate360. In March 2026, a hacktivist group calling itself Internet Yiff Machine said it had broken in and taken the data. On October 23, Navigate360 acknowledged that someone had accessed its systems and copied data between November 21, 2025 and March 5, 2026, and said names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and other information may have been exposed.
CBC’s analysis of the Canadian records found:
- more than 1.5 million Canadian tips, going back 25 years
- more than 850,000 of them with personal details, most often street addresses and phone numbers
- tens of thousands of personal email addresses, plus licence plates and hundreds of banking details tied to cash rewards
- over 4,300 tips in which the tipster gave their full name
CBC couldn’t always tell whether a detail belonged to the person sending the tip, a victim, or the person being accused. Someone claiming to speak for the hackers told CBC no copy had been made public. The experts CBC spoke with said that’s reassuring but not something to rely on.
Toronto Crime Stoppers paused its tip program after the story ran, and CBC reported that at least seven chapters had suspended programs. On October 24, CBC reported that the federal privacy commissioner and Ontario’s commissioner say they can’t formally investigate: the federal private-sector law generally doesn’t apply to non-profits like Crime Stoppers, and Ontario’s commissioner oversees only the public sector. The federal office says it has offered guidance to Crime Stoppers and contacted Navigate360.
What this means for you
The Canadian Crime Stoppers Association told CBC it has concerns about notifying people without putting tipsters at more risk, because the data doesn’t separate the people who sent tips from the people named in them. So you may never get a letter, even if your details are in there.
Most tips never included a name. But an address, a phone number or a licence plate can be enough to work out who someone is, especially when combined with what’s already easy to find online.
What you can do
- Ask your local chapter. The RCMP has advised anyone with concerns about a tip they submitted to contact the Canadian Crime Stoppers Association or their local chapter.
- If you feel unsafe, call your local police. If you gave a tip about someone dangerous and you’re worried, say so. That’s exactly what police need to know.
- Be wary of anyone who brings up your tip. One of the experts CBC spoke with pointed out that a caller who mentions a tip you made builds trust immediately. Crime Stoppers doesn’t call tipsters out of the blue. Hang up and contact the chapter yourself, on a number you found yourself.
- Make your home address harder to find. If you’re worried about someone matching a name to where you live, people-search sites are often the shortest route. Our guide to opting out of data brokers in Canada walks through the main ones.
- Watch for messages built from personal details. A leak like this is useful to scammers too. See how scammers use leaked data.
How Frame helps
Frame keeps a catalog of known breaches and lets you add the ones you know you were part of to a verified email. Frame shows what each one exposed, gives you a short checklist, and counts it in your exposure report. Automatic breach lookups aren’t live yet. Frame also has step-by-step guides to opt out of the data brokers that publish home addresses and phone numbers. We never collect or store the leaked records themselves.
Sources
- CBC News, More than 1.5 million Canadian Crime Stoppers tips leaked, CBC exclusive finds, October 21, 2026
- CBC News, Canadian privacy watchdogs powerless to hold Crime Stoppers accountable for data breach, October 24, 2026
- Reuters via CNA, Safety company acknowledges hack seven months after breach exposed millions of crime tips, October 23, 2026
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