The company that owns Ashley Madison also ran an escort service, says report
REUTERS/Mark Blinch
Two weeks ago, adultery website Ashley Madison was hacked, exposing account information for more than 30 million users.
Private membership information including names, email addresses, and detailed sexual preferences were made public.
In addition to revealing customer information, Impact Team, the hacker or hackers responsible for the leak, also exposed more than 197,000 emails from Ashley Madison CEO Noel Biderman's inbox.
Those emails, along with other documents in the leak, talk about Avid Life Media's escort business, the Daily Dot reports. Avid Life Media also reportedly recruited escorts for another dating site, aimed at "sugar daddies" - wealthy older men who want to date younger women, often providing money in exchange for "companionship" and sex.
Last week, in the wake of the data breach, Ashley Madison CEO Noel Biderman stepped down.
An internal memo lists a shell company called Pernimus Limited as one of Avid Life Media's assets, the Daily Dot reports. Pernimus Limited leased an escort website called Escorts.ca in 2013, and the site was active until Tuesday evening, when it was suspended. Escorts.ca was under a 10-year lease to Avid Life Media, according to a 2013 leaked Word document uncovered by the Daily Dot.
Aside from Escorts.ca, more leaked correspondence indicates that Avid Life Media's executives were recruiting escorts for another one of the websites it owned, Arrangement Finders, according to the report. Arrangement Finders is a sugar daddy website. Its slogan is "Intimacy with a Twi$t."
An Avid Life Media employee named John Santoro apparently emailed then-CEO Biderman about recruiting escorts for Arrangement Fingers. In an email to Biderman, he reportedly said: "Tested out sending emails to 20 escorts. Along the lines of 'you look amazing. I'm traveling on business. Are you on AF [Arrangement Finders]? I use that service when I travel for similar encounters.'"
As recently as four months ago, Ashley Madison was seriously talking about the possibility of an IPO. But now, the fallout from the hack into Ashley Madison has been enormous, and going public on a stock exchange now looks like a laughable ambition.
Since the leak, huge holes in the business have become apparentm, and the confidentiality and confidence of its (understandably secretive) users has been breached.
We reached out to Avid Life Media for comment on this story, and will update it if we hear back.
- I spent $2,000 for 7 nights in a 179-square-foot room on one of the world's largest cruise ships. Take a look inside my cabin.
- Saudi Arabia wants China to help fund its struggling $500 billion Neom megaproject. Investors may not be too excited.
- Colon cancer rates are rising in young people. If you have two symptoms you should get a colonoscopy, a GI oncologist says.
- Catan adds climate change to the latest edition of the world-famous board game
- Tired of blatant misinformation in the media? This video game can help you and your family fight fake news!
- Tired of blatant misinformation in the media? This video game can help you and your family fight fake news!
- JNK India IPO allotment – How to check allotment, GMP, listing date and more
- Indian Army unveils selfie point at Hombotingla Pass ahead of 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas