Cop May Have Killed Himself Over Ashley Madison Leak

Toronto police reveal what's happening in investigation
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 24, 2015 4:55 PM CDT
Ashley Madison Leak Linked to 3 Suicides
A June 10, 2015 photo from files showing Ashley Madison's Korean web site on a computer screen in Seoul, South Korea.    (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

The Ashley Madison leak is kinda funny, right? Well it's now led to extortion threats, online scams, and possible suicides. "This ain’t a funny game anymore," says Toronto police officer Bryce Evans, per the Globe & Mail. The release of some 33 million users' data from the dating affair website has led to two unconfirmed suicides, police say, and may have caused a police captain in San Antonio, Texas, to take his own life, the Toronto Star reports. "The victimization is around the world," says Evans. "We’re talking about families, we’re talking about their children, we’re talking about wives, about their male partners." The Texas police captain, 25-year veteran Michael Gorhum, killed himself last week after his name appeared in the leak, the New York Daily News reports.

San Antonio police haven't commented, but the San Antonio Express-News reports that three city employees—including a police captain and a detective—were on the list of leaked names. In recapping events, Toronto police say the hacker group Impact Team contacted Ashley Madison parent company Avid Life last month, demanding that the website be shut down; the message came with the AC/DC song, "Thunderstruck." Avid Life refused to shut it down, and now offers a $500,000 reward in the case. Meanwhile, police are warning people to avoid fake websites that claim to list the victims but actually take your money or spread malware. The San Francisco Chronicle offers a tool to check email addresses on the list, but warns that "it’s uncertain whether the person associated with that account was using Ashley Madison." (More hackers stories.)

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