More than 1.5 million Canadian Crime Stoppers tips leaked, CBC exclusive finds
'It’s very scary, to be honest,' says tipster worried info could be used for retaliation
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info → leak → retaliation
When Andrew Rivard spotted a Crime Stoppers ad offering a $2,000 reward for tips in the winter of 2025, he decided to report what he knew about illegal cigarette sales in his neighbourhood.
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he → spot → neighbourhood
Rivard’s original tip shows he disclosed his full name.
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he → show → name
He says he trusted the organization’s long-standing promise to protect the identities of all tipsters.
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he → say → tipsters
"I was told nothing would come of it; no one would come to me with, you know, I guess, resentment," Rivard said.
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Rivard → tell → resentment
"I just was hoping it would be that exactly — anonymous."
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it → hop → ?
But the Manitoba man's report — along with information from more than 1.5 million other tips submitted to Canadian Crime Stoppers programs over the last 25 years — was exposed in a massive data breach, an exclusive CBC investigation has found.
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investigation → submit → breach
The personal information captured in some compromised tips was detailed enough for CBC to contact more than a dozen tipsters — including Rivard — who reacted with shock and fear for their safety.
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who → capture → safety
"It’s very scary, to be honest," said Rivard, who now worries his home address and phone number may be used by criminals for retaliation.
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address → ’ → retaliation
Rivard’s original tip as it appeared in the leaked data, including his full name.
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it → appear → name
CBC retroactively redacted other personally identifiable information.
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CBC → redact → information
The data was stolen last March by hacktivist collective Internet Yiff Machine.
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data → steal → Machine
In a manifesto, the group said it wanted to disprove the claim by P3 Global Intel — the company hired by Crime Stoppers to manage its tips — that the platform was "anonymous" and "secure."
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platform → say → tips
A copy of the hacked data was made available to researchers and journalists, including CBC, by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a U.S. non-profit that archives and publishes hacked and leaked documents it deems to be in the public interest.
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it → hack → interest
CBC took extensive precautions to protect this sensitive data throughout its investigation.
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CBC → take → investigation
Our security measures included, but were not limited to, encryption and working in a self-contained, offline environment.
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measures → include → environment
The sensitive information was only accessible to a small number of CBC journalists working on the project.
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information → work → project
Ultimately, CBC intends to destroy its copy of the dataset.
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CBC → intend → dataset
Beyond confirming they were hacked over six months ago, the Canadian Crime Stoppers Association (CCSA) and individual chapters have not spoken about the extent of the breach, only saying they await a detailed report from Navigate360, the company that owns the P3 platform.
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that → confirm → platform
This is the first time precise figures on how many Canadian tipsters were compromised in the breach — and the severity of the information exposed — have been made public.
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tipsters → compromise → information
Canadian investigation launched into data breach that exposed millions of IDs
Hacker took 100,000 documents in 2025 'cyber incident,' Kingston Police say
Our interviews and analysis of Canadian content in the leaked data suggest that Crime Stoppers, along with the company it contracted to manage its database, failed to protect tipsters' identities, left personal information unredacted and improperly retained decades of sensitive records.
"
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it → launch → records
For a system that has been designed to promise anonymity to the users, that has failed categorically," said Prof. Ali Dehghantanha, the Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity and Threat Intelligence at the University of Guelph.
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Dehghantanha → design → Guelph
He’s one of two experts who were shown our methodology and limited samples of the data from a secure CBC laptop.
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who → ’ → laptop
After seeing CBC’s main findings, the RCMP shared concerns that the breach could “jeopardize public safety, including the safety of tipsters, individuals identified in tips and police officers," it said in a statement, adding it was originally told the leak did not include Canadian data or personal information.
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leak → see → data
CBC also shared the same information with the CCSA, which declined an interview.
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which → share → interview
In a written statement, the organization’s president, David J. Forster, said they “recognize the concern and uncertainty this incident has created, particularly for people who trust Crime Stoppers with sensitive information.”
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who → write → information
Professor Ali Dehghantanha is one of two cybersecurity experts who examined samples of the data.
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who → examine → data
Tips about high-profile Canadian investigations
Crime Stoppers is a network of civilian-run non-profits that collects anonymous tips on crime and suspicious activity.
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that → run → crime
It operates independently of law enforcement, though it refers a portion of tips back to them to assist in investigations.
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it → operate → investigations
The organization often appeals to the public, in partnership with police, for help with unsolved crimes and to advance investigations — all with the promise of anonymity for tipsters who contact them.
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who → appeal → them
CBC’s analysis of Canadian tips found mentions of many high-profile cases that generated significant public attention — from Barry and Honey Sherman’s murders to Amber Tuccaro's disappearance, Montreal’s Luka Magnotta case and, more recently, the international manhunt for Ryan Wedding.
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that → find → Wedding
Many of the tips dealt with serious allegations, with some people explicitly saying they feared retribution for speaking out.
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they → deal → retribution
Citizens called with information about alleged murderers, terrorists and pedophiles or incriminating details about people they were close to, like family members on the run or breaching court orders.
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they → call → orders
In 2012, police asked for the public’s help in identifying the voice of a man with a connection to missing Indigenous woman Amber Tuccaro.
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police → ask → Tuccaro
CBC found hundreds of tips mentioning her disappearance in the leaked Crime Stoppers tips.
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CBC → find → tips
A third of all tips talked about drugs and drug trafficking; hundreds reported suspicious activity in their neighbourhoods, often naming individuals and implicating organized crime, biker gangs or drug cartels — including the Hells Angels, Rock Machine and Outlaws, as well as B.C.’s Red Scorpions and Independent Soldiers.
Notes in the data from Crime Stoppers staff suggest some of those tips led to real-life consequences: Nearly 49,000 tips were linked to a case cleared by an arrest or criminal charges, while nearly 1,000 tipsters were approved for cash rewards.
"I am concerned.
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I → talk → rewards
I am really worried," said Dehghantanha, who has conducted digital forensics investigations for over a decade.
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who → say → decade
“I am really concerned about these records … being in the hands of the wrong people, while those people who have been impacted are not aware of that and do not have any support.
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who → impact → support
That's exactly the situation one Canadian woman is facing.
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woman → face → ?
CBC agreed to withhold her identity given her safety concerns.
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CBC → agree → concerns
…and 39 more, not listed.
The Aporia
