diff --git a/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/forgotPassword.ts b/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/forgotPassword.ts
index 1651a4725..45e899f26 100644
--- a/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/forgotPassword.ts
+++ b/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/forgotPassword.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import crypto from 'crypto'
 import { URL } from 'url'
+import httpStatus from 'http-status'
 
 import type { Collection } from '../../collections/config/types.d.ts'
 import type { PayloadRequest } from '../../types/index.d.ts'
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ export type Result = string
 
 export const forgotPasswordOperation = async (incomingArgs: Arguments): Promise<null | string> => {
   if (!Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(incomingArgs.data, 'email')) {
-    throw new APIError('Missing email.', 400)
+    throw new APIError('Missing email.', httpStatus.BAD_REQUEST)
   }
 
   let args = incomingArgs
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ export const forgotPasswordOperation = async (incomingArgs: Arguments): Promise<
     }
 
     if (!data.email) {
-      throw new APIError('Missing email.')
+      throw new APIError('Missing email.', httpStatus.BAD_REQUEST)
     }
 
     let user = await payload.db.findOne<UserDoc>({
@@ -84,6 +85,9 @@ export const forgotPasswordOperation = async (incomingArgs: Arguments): Promise<
       where: { email: { equals: data.email.toLowerCase() } },
     })
 
+    // We don't want to indicate specifically that an email was not found,
+    // as doing so could lead to the exposure of registered emails.
+    // Therefore, we prefer to fail silently.
     if (!user) return null
 
     user.resetPasswordToken = token
diff --git a/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/resetPassword.ts b/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/resetPassword.ts
index e07431a01..45cdca40a 100644
--- a/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/resetPassword.ts
+++ b/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/resetPassword.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import jwt from 'jsonwebtoken'
+import httpStatus from 'http-status'
 
 import type { Collection } from '../../collections/config/types.d.ts'
 import type { PayloadRequest } from '../../types/index.d.ts'
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ export const resetPasswordOperation = async (args: Arguments): Promise<Result> =
     !Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(args.data, 'token') ||
     !Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(args.data, 'password')
   ) {
-    throw new APIError('Missing required data.')
+    throw new APIError('Missing required data.', httpStatus.BAD_REQUEST)
   }
 
   const {
@@ -63,7 +64,7 @@ export const resetPasswordOperation = async (args: Arguments): Promise<Result> =
       },
     })
 
-    if (!user) throw new APIError('Token is either invalid or has expired.')
+    if (!user) throw new APIError('Token is either invalid or has expired.', httpStatus.FORBIDDEN)
 
     // TODO: replace this method
     const { hash, salt } = await generatePasswordSaltHash({ password: data.password })
diff --git a/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/unlock.ts b/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/unlock.ts
index e44bc6815..b568a755a 100644
--- a/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/unlock.ts
+++ b/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/unlock.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import httpStatus from 'http-status'
+
 import type { Collection } from '../../collections/config/types.d.ts'
 import type { PayloadRequest } from '../../types/index.d.ts'
 
@@ -19,7 +21,7 @@ export type Args = {
 
 export const unlockOperation = async (args: Args): Promise<boolean> => {
   if (!Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(args.data, 'email')) {
-    throw new APIError('Missing email.')
+    throw new APIError('Missing email.', httpStatus.BAD_REQUEST)
   }
 
   const {
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ export const unlockOperation = async (args: Args): Promise<boolean> => {
     // /////////////////////////////////////
 
     if (!data.email) {
-      throw new APIError('Missing email.')
+      throw new APIError('Missing email.', httpStatus.BAD_REQUEST)
     }
 
     const user = await req.payload.db.findOne({
diff --git a/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/verifyEmail.ts b/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/verifyEmail.ts
index bf1fa7fa1..9cfc26005 100644
--- a/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/verifyEmail.ts
+++ b/packages/payload/src/auth/operations/verifyEmail.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export const verifyEmailOperation = async (args: Args): Promise<boolean> => {
       },
     })
 
-    if (!user) throw new APIError('Verification token is invalid.', httpStatus.BAD_REQUEST)
+    if (!user) throw new APIError('Verification token is invalid.', httpStatus.FORBIDDEN)
     if (user && user._verified === true)
       throw new APIError('This account has already been activated.', httpStatus.ACCEPTED)