Over 1.5 Million Canadian Crime Stoppers Tips Exposed in Data Breach
A CBC investigation found that more than 1.5 million tips submitted to Canadian Crime Stoppers over 25 years were stolen by the hacktivist collective Internet Yiff Machine in March 2026. Approximately half of the records contained personally identifiable information, contradicting assurances of anonymity.
More than 1.5 million tips submitted to Canadian Crime Stoppers over the past 25 years were exposed in a massive data breach. The hacktivist collective Internet Yiff Machine stole the data in March 2026, stating their goal was to disprove claims by P3 Global Intel that the platform was anonymous and secure. 
Approximately 850,000 tips—about half of all identified Canadian records—included personally identifiable information such as street addresses, phone numbers, emails, and banking details. In over 4,300 reports, tipsters introduced themselves with a full name, leaving this information unredacted in the database despite staff warnings.
Nearly 49,000 tips in the leaked data were linked to cases cleared by an arrest or criminal charges, and nearly 1,000 tipsters were approved for cash rewards. The leaked tips mentioned high-profile Canadian investigations, including the murders of Barry and Honey Sherman, Amber Tuccaro's disappearance, the Luka Magnotta case, and the manhunt for Ryan Wedding. A third of all tips discussed drugs and drug trafficking, with hundreds naming individuals implicated in organized crime groups like the Hells Angels, Rock Machine, Outlaws, Red Scorpions, and Independent Soldiers.
The Canadian Crime Stoppers Association (CCSA) and individual chapters have not publicly disclosed the extent of the breach, awaiting a detailed report from Navigate360, the owner of the P3 platform. There are currently 68 Crime Stoppers chapters registered as non-profits in Canada. 
The RCMP was initially advised that Canadian data had not been affected, but was informed in May 2026 that the breach did include Canadian data, though it claimed it would not contain PII of reporters. Cybersecurity experts Prof. Ali Dehghantanha and Ben Coon criticized the storage of decades of historical tips in a single location and the failure to audit third-party security measures.