diff --git a/internal/api/handler_auth_test.go b/internal/api/handler_auth_test.go
index 79531855e..30bf53136 100644
--- a/internal/api/handler_auth_test.go
+++ b/internal/api/handler_auth_test.go
@@ -1497,7 +1497,7 @@ func TestHandler_login_ErrorEquivalence(t *testing.T) {
 	// GetUserByEmail-error path in the real service).
 	mockAuthNotFound := new(MockAuthService)
 	mockAuthNotFound.On("Login", ctx, mock.Anything).
-		Return((*LoginResponse)(nil), errors.New("invalid email or password")).Once()
+		Return((*LoginResponse)(nil), errors.New("Check your email address and password and try again")).Once()
 	t.Cleanup(func() { mockAuthNotFound.AssertExpectations(t) })
 
 	handlerNotFound := &Handler{auth: mockAuthNotFound}
@@ -1513,7 +1513,7 @@ func TestHandler_login_ErrorEquivalence(t *testing.T) {
 	// Path 2: service returns the "wrong password" message (existing user).
 	mockAuthWrongPass := new(MockAuthService)
 	mockAuthWrongPass.On("Login", ctx, mock.Anything).
-		Return((*LoginResponse)(nil), errors.New("invalid email or password")).Once()
+		Return((*LoginResponse)(nil), errors.New("Check your email address and password and try again")).Once()
 	t.Cleanup(func() { mockAuthWrongPass.AssertExpectations(t) })
 
 	handlerWrongPass := &Handler{auth: mockAuthWrongPass}
diff --git a/internal/auth/service.go b/internal/auth/service.go
index 1cdc9c39d..90c91dafe 100644
--- a/internal/auth/service.go
+++ b/internal/auth/service.go
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ const (
 
 	// AccountLockoutDuration is how long an account is locked after max failed attempts
 	AccountLockoutDuration = 15 * time.Minute
+
+	// genericLoginError is returned for every authentication failure so callers
+	// cannot distinguish a missing account from a wrong password (anti-enumeration,
+	// closes issues #416 and #993).
+	genericLoginError = "Check your email address and password and try again"
 )
 
 // Service handles authentication and authorization
@@ -176,18 +181,18 @@ func (s *Service) getUserAndValidateStatus(ctx context.Context, email string) (*
 		// errors so callers cannot distinguish a missing account from a DB
 		// failure (issue #416). The caller (Login) runs a dummy bcrypt compare
 		// after this to equalise response time with the wrong-password path.
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid email or password")
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(genericLoginError)
 	}
 
 	if !user.Active {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid email or password")
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(genericLoginError)
 	}
 
 	if user.LockedUntil != nil && time.Now().Before(*user.LockedUntil) {
 		remainingTime := time.Until(*user.LockedUntil).Round(time.Minute)
 		// Omit user.ID from log to avoid leaking internal identifiers to log
 		logging.Warnf("Login attempt for locked account (locked for %v more)", remainingTime)
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid email or password")
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf(genericLoginError)
 	}
 	// NOTE: when LockedUntil is set but the window has already expired, the user falls
 	// through here with FailedLoginAttempts and LockedUntil still set in memory.
@@ -220,12 +225,12 @@ func (s *Service) verifyPasswordAndMFA(ctx context.Context, user *User, req Logi
 	// Both branches return the same message as the "user not found" path so the
 	// full login failure surface is uniform (issue #416).
 	if user.PasswordHash == "" {
-		return fmt.Errorf("invalid email or password")
+		return fmt.Errorf(genericLoginError)
 	}
 
 	if !s.verifyPassword(req.Password, user.PasswordHash) {
 		s.recordFailedLogin(ctx, user)
-		return fmt.Errorf("invalid email or password")
+		return fmt.Errorf(genericLoginError)
 	}
 
 	if user.MFAEnabled {
@@ -237,7 +242,7 @@ func (s *Service) verifyPasswordAndMFA(ctx context.Context, user *User, req Logi
 			// Log internally for operator visibility without leaking internal state
 			// to the caller -- a distinct message would confirm the password was correct.
 			logging.Errorf("MFA enabled but secret missing for user %s -- possible data integrity issue", user.ID)
-			return fmt.Errorf("Check your email address and password and try again")
+			return fmt.Errorf(genericLoginError)
 		}
 		// verifyTOTP fails closed on empty or malformed inputs: empty code, empty
 		// secret, and base32-decode errors all return false rather than a match.
diff --git a/internal/auth/service_lockout_test.go b/internal/auth/service_lockout_test.go
index 4e874108a..85591929b 100644
--- a/internal/auth/service_lockout_test.go
+++ b/internal/auth/service_lockout_test.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func TestLogin_AccountLockout_BeforePasswordCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	resp, err := service.Login(ctx, req)
 	assert.Error(t, err)
 	assert.Nil(t, resp)
-	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "invalid email or password") // Generic error to prevent user enumeration
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "Check your email address and password and try again") // Generic error to prevent user enumeration
 
 	mockStore.AssertExpectations(t)
 	// Verify UpdateUser was NOT called - lockout check happens first
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ func TestLogin_AccountLockout_GenericErrorMessage(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Error message should be generic to prevent user enumeration
 	// Should NOT reveal that account is locked
-	assert.Equal(t, "invalid email or password", err.Error())
+	assert.Equal(t, "Check your email address and password and try again", err.Error())
 
 	mockStore.AssertExpectations(t)
 }
@@ -369,10 +369,10 @@ func TestRecordFailedLogin(t *testing.T) {
 //
 // Issue #416 added the "store error" scenario: the real Postgres store returns
 // (nil, pgx.ErrNoRows) for a missing row, not (nil, nil). Both the error path and
-// the nil-user path now collapse to the same message "invalid email or password"
+// the nil-user path now collapse to the same message "Check your email address and password and try again"
 // and the Login function runs a dummy bcrypt compare to equalise response timing.
 func TestLogin_OWASPEnumerationInvariant(t *testing.T) {
-	const wantMsg = "invalid email or password"
+	const wantMsg = "Check your email address and password and try again"
 	ctx := context.Background()
 
 	lockUntil := time.Now().Add(10 * time.Minute)
diff --git a/internal/auth/service_test.go b/internal/auth/service_test.go
index 8a2a5a618..ac7bf0f1c 100644
--- a/internal/auth/service_test.go
+++ b/internal/auth/service_test.go
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func TestService_Login(t *testing.T) {
 		resp, err := service.Login(ctx, req)
 		assert.Error(t, err)
 		assert.Nil(t, resp)
-		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "invalid email or password")
+		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "Check your email address and password and try again")
 
 		mockStore.AssertExpectations(t)
 	})
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func TestService_Login(t *testing.T) {
 		resp, err := service.Login(ctx, req)
 		assert.Error(t, err)
 		assert.Nil(t, resp)
-		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "invalid email or password")
+		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "Check your email address and password and try again")
 
 		mockStore.AssertExpectations(t)
 	})
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ func TestService_Login(t *testing.T) {
 		resp, err := service.Login(ctx, req)
 		assert.Error(t, err)
 		assert.Nil(t, resp)
-		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "invalid email or password")
+		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "Check your email address and password and try again")
 
 		mockStore.AssertExpectations(t)
 	})
@@ -810,7 +810,7 @@ func TestService_Login_LockedUser(t *testing.T) {
 	resp, err := service.Login(ctx, req)
 	assert.Error(t, err)
 	assert.Nil(t, resp)
-	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "invalid email or password")
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "Check your email address and password and try again")
 
 	mockStore.AssertExpectations(t)
 }
@@ -836,7 +836,7 @@ func TestService_Login_EmptyPasswordHash(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Error(t, err)
 	assert.Nil(t, resp)
 	// Must return generic error, not a message that leaks account state
-	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "invalid email or password")
+	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "Check your email address and password and try again")
 
 	mockStore.AssertExpectations(t)
 }