Media attention is mounting, as this is one of the largest online attacks in the world, and Ashley Madison’s parent company Avid Life, is now offering a $500,000 reward for any information about those that are responsible. The situation is a total mess, especially for a website that holds intimate details about its users. “Can you imagine going home and people talking at the dinner table?”
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Police declined to provide any more details on the apparent suicides, saying they received the unconfirmed reports on Monday morning.
It is unclear if this number included a Texas police captain who committed suicide just days after his email address was released in the massive data leak of adultery website Ashley Madison.
“The Impact Team’s actions … have already sparked spinoffs of crimes and further victimization”, Evans alleged.
Ashley Madison was the victim of the high-profile hack in July by a group known as The Impact Team. Special Agent Ron Marcello of Homeland Security Investigations said Toronto police asked for assistance, adding that the FBI has taken the lead on the investigation. The adult dating site meant for facilitating discreet extramarital affairs, but when the website was hacked, it resulted in the data from its millions of users being published online. The leak is affecting marriages, families, and children.
Avid Life Media employees log on to their computers to find a warning message accompanied by the AC/DC song “Thunderstruck“.
Evans also noted that several instances of “spin off” crimes are beginning to occur. “The reality is… this is not the fun and games that has been portrayed”.
Authorities, however, said the e-mails are a scam because no one is able to erase the information.
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Specifically, Evans claims that the Toronto Police Department has confirmed that some users have been contacted by criminals who are threatening to expose their information. Ashley Madison’s woes deepened when lawyers representing Canadians whose information was leaked slapped a class-action lawsuit seeking some $760 million in damages.
