There have been two unconfirmed reports of people committing suicide after their names were linked to the cheating website Ashley Madison, according to Canadian police, following the recent large-scale hack and release of customer information.
The hack, which resulted in the email addresses and sometimes more detailed information of more than 30 million customers being published online, has also precipitated a range of online scams and extortion attempts, with numerous customers' receiving blackmail threats.
Ashley Madison, a dating website owned by a Canadian company called Avid Life Media and which purported to facilitate affairs for married people, was the target of a hack by a group or individual called the Impact Team in July. Last week, the hackers released swathes of customer information online.
The Toronto Police department is leading a criminal investigation into the massive breach, and on Monday, a senior member of the department addressed the media about the extent of the fallout.
"The ripple effect of The Impact Team's actions will continue to have a long term social and economic impact, and they have already sparked spin-offs of crimes and further victimisation," said Acting Staff Superintendent Bryce Evans.
"As of this morning, we have two unconfirmed reports of suicides."
When pressed, the superintendent would not provide any further details on the suicides, including whether or not they were in Canada or elsewhere.
He said a range of online scams had already popped up attempting to take advantage of the hack, targeting not just customers but also anyone who may be trying to search for names or email addresses online.
"Criminals have already engaged in online scams by claiming to provide access to the leaked websites," he said.
"The public needs to be aware that by clicking on these links, you are exposing your computers to malware (malicious software), spyware, adware and viruses."
"There are also websites that are claiming to erase customer profiles from the database for a fee. This is also a scam."
Superintendent Evans also made note of extortion attempts by some criminals online, who have sent messages to customers threatening to expose their name more widely unless payment in bitcoins, equivalent to about $315 was received.
During the press conference, Superintendent Evans also revealed how the company first became aware of the hack.
On July 12, he said, employees of Avid Life Media opened their laptops to find a threatening message on their screens accompanied by the AC/DC song 'Thunderstruck'. That message was the original demand from the Impact Team to shut down Ashley Madison lest their customer information be released.
The Toronto Police have appealed to the public, particularly to members of hacking community, to come forward with any information on the Impact Team, offering a $CAD500,000 ($524, 894) reward for information that leads to an arrest.
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