“Similar datasets” from Italy, the Netherlands and Colombia were also for sale, according to the police (Photo: Getty Images/EyeEm)

A hacker offered to sell the full name, address and date of birth of virtually anyone in Austria – and almost got away with it.

The Dutch criminal, whose name is not mentioned, performed the feat from his Amsterdam apartment.

Police say the 25-year-old put the data up for sale on an online forum in May 2020.

The information was advertised with “full name, gender, full address and date of birth of probably every citizen” in Austria.

Investigators have confirmed its authenticity, detectives added.

The wealth of names included nearly nine million data sets for an Austrian population of about 9.1 million.

According to the police, the hacker had also offered “similar datasets” from Italy, the Netherlands and Colombia for sale.

The Austrian information is so-called registration data – basic data including a current address that residents must pass on to the authorities.

In a statement, police said: “Since this data was freely available on the internet, it is imperative to believe that all or part of this registration data is irrevocably in the hands of criminals.”

The hacker was arrested in November, but details of the case only came to light today.

A police spokesman added that the statement is only now being released so as not to hinder the investigation.

Few other details have been released, but the hacker was already known to authorities before the incident, police said.

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