Two Ashley Madison users allegedly commit suicide after hack

Two individuals associated with the leak of Ashley Madison customer details are reported to have taken their lives, police in Canada report.

No further information was given about the victims’ deaths, but Ashley Madison's Canadian parent company Avid Life Media is offering a $500,000 reward for information on the hackers, according to international reports.

The BBC reports that details of more than 33million accounts were stolen from the website, which offers users the chance to have an extramarital affair.

Addressing the hackers, known as The Impact Team, acting staff superintendent Bryce Evans of the Toronto police said: "I want to make it very clear to you your actions are illegal and we will not be tolerating them. This is your wake-up call," the BBC reports.

Police are seeking information from members of the wider hacker community that might aid their investigation into the highly sophisticated breach.

Evans also confirmed that credit card data was included in the original data dump released by The Impact Team and that investigators believed this was limited to the last four digits of the main card number.

However, police are advising victims of the hack to review their accounts.

Evans explained that the hack had already led to a series of "spin-offs of crimes and further victimisation".

"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, spyware, adware and viruses."

The unfolding of the hack was also detailed at the conference - from the moment on 12 July when several Avid Life Media employees logged in to their computers and were confronted by a message from the hackers. The message was reportedly accompanied by music - AC/DC's "Thunderstruck, international media claim.

"This hack is one of the largest data breaches in the world and is very unique on its own in that it exposed tens of millions of people's personal information," he added.