Hacked Ashley Madison users’ lives just got even more stressful after revelations that they are receiving threatening emails demanding money or their identities will be revealed.
It’s not believed the extortion emails are coming from the group that originally hacked the site in September but most likely from scammers.
The New York Post is today reporting that men who’d had their details revealed are now receiving extortion emails asking for $US500 or their names would be revealed to partners and families.
Some 37 million users of the site had their details hacked, including here in Australia.
The newspaper reported that emails had been sent that read: “Unfortunately your data was leaked in the recent hacking of Ashley Madison and I know [sic] have your information. I have also used your user profile to find your Facebook page, using this I can now message all of your friends and family members.” The email then demands $US500 within three days before the threat to expose the user is followed through on.
However, it’s not all bad news. Speaking to The New York Post, software security expert Johannes Ullrich said they emails are probably coming from scammers and not the hacking group Impact Team that initially took down Ashley Madison.
“They used spambot techniques, which are the favourites of the Russian mob and Nigerian scammers,” Ullrich said. “It would be too much trouble for them, and there is a risk they could be traced.”
