Lego marketplace BrickLink offline after ‘unusual activity’ detected

Lego has taken its online marketplace BrickLink offline after detecting what it described as unusual activity on the platform.

BrickLink is used by Lego collectors worldwide to buy and sell second-hand sets, source new bricks and purchase limited edition releases.

It was originally set up by a fan but acquired by Lego in 2019. The firm wrote on its homepage that before restoring BrickLink, it wanted to “fully understand” what had happened.

“That means containing the issue, investigating how it happened and checking for related issues,” Lego said. It did not provide any further detail about whether the site had been breached or hacked, nor whether any customer data had been affected.

BrickLink has been offline for the last three days, with a previous message saying it was down for maintenance.

Cyber-professional Melanie Hoskin has been collecting Lego for 45 years and is a regular user of BrickLink.

She said that she had received multiple links for payment for a limited edition release she had pre-ordered on the platform after she had already paid for it.

She said Lego did not believe that the payment had been taken and at one point said it would ban her from BrickLink.

The problem has now been resolved and Lego said it was not aware of wider payment issues.

It is unclear whether the payment glitch had any connection to the issue that led to the website going offline.

Hoskin said she felt like she had been accused of theft.

“Lego is my stress relief,” she said. “Lego is what I grew up with as a kid, it’s what bonded me with my sisters.

“I’ve got a Lego room and I’ve not even been able to walk into it this past couple of weeks because it just angers me.”

Earlier today, a message on BrickLink said the platform would be back online by Wednesday evening, but that message has now been deleted and there is no longer a time frame given for its return.