Unconfirmed reports of two Ashley Madison-related suicides: police

TORONTO – Toronto police say they’ve received two unconfirmed reports of suicides related to the hacking of cheating website Ashley Madison, which they call one of the largest data breaches in the world.

The Canadian owned website — whose slogan is “Life is short. Have an affair” — is marketed to people looking for extramarital relationships and claims to have about 39 million members around the world.

The site was the victim of a cyberattack a month ago, with hackers referring to themselves as the Impact Team vowing to release customer data unless the website was shut down.

Police, along with representatives from other Canadian and international law enforcement agencies, provided an update into the investigation on Monday morning.

At the news conference, Toronto police said they are working closely with the RCMP, FBI, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on the investigated dubbed “Project Unicorn.”

Police said on July 12, Avid employees got a threatening letter when they logged onto their computers at work, accompanied by the AC/DC song “Thunderstruck” playing in the background. As a result, both sites were shut down.

Then, last Thursday, another message was sent taunting Avid’s CEO.

Police said the hackers’ actions are causing “enormous social and economic fallout.”

“This aint’ fun and games anymore, this is reality, this is affecting all of us,” Evans said “The social impact behind this leak, we’re talking about families, we’re talking about children, we’re talking about wives, their male partners. It’s going to have impacts on their lives.”

Evans said they are also hate crimes as a result of the hack.

He also said those responsible for the cyberattack need to know their actions are under intense scrutiny in an investigation involving law enforcement partners around the world.

Evans addressed the Impact Team directly, saying their actions are “illegal and will not be tolerated.”

“This is your wake-up call,” he said. “We are now doing a serious investigation and inviting all our partners.”

Criminals are threatening to extort Ashley Madison account holders by threatening to expose them unless payment is received, police said.

Investigators are asking anyone with information on the investigation, or who has been victimized or extorted by the hack, to contact them.

Evans also appealed to others in the hacking community, asking them to help police because they knew “the Impact Team has crossed the line.”

Avid Life Media, the parent company of Ashley Madison, is co-operating with the police investigation, Evans said, and is offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to the identification and prosecution of the hackers.

Meanwhile, lawyers in Toronto have launched a national class action lawsuit against the corporations who run the Ashley Madison site.