Lego takes BrickLink marketplace offline after unusual activity detected

Lego has taken its BrickLink marketplace offline after detecting what it called “unusual activity”, saying it will investigate before restoring the site. The company has not said whether the platform was hacked or whether customer data was affected.

BrickLink, used by Lego fans around the world to buy and sell second-hand sets and individual pieces, has been unavailable for three days. An earlier message described the outage as maintenance. Lego said it wanted to contain the issue, investigate how it happened and check for related problems before bringing the marketplace back.

The outage has disrupted some customers’ purchases. Collector Melanie Hoskin told the BBC she received several payment links for a limited-edition item she had pre-ordered, despite having already paid. Lego later resolved the payment problem and said it was not aware of wider payment issues. It is unclear whether the glitch was connected to the activity that prompted the shutdown.

BrickLink had earlier said it would return by Wednesday evening, but that message was removed and Lego has since given no timetable for the site’s restoration. Lego acquired the fan-created marketplace in 2019.