Hackers Leak Celebrity Plastic Surgery Photos From Germany, Denmark, Norway, UK And More

While celebrities would never voluntarily let the details of their plastic surgeries slip in public, a group of hackers, who call themselves “Tsar Team,” took it upon themselves to leak more than 25,000 private photos and personal information of clients, including eminent personalities, after they hacked the Grozio Chirurgija clinic in Kaunsas, Lithuania, Tuesday according to Mail Online report.

While some of the pictures started to circulate back in March, the rest of the database was made public on May 30. The exact number of victims affected by the leak is undetermined as many of them have started to receive blackmail threats from the hackers, demanding them to pay up if they want to prevent their nude pictures and other personal information like passport copies and social security numbers from being made public.

Till now, mostly the before and after pictures of the plastic surgery clients have been revealed by the hackers. The censored list obtained by Mail Online shows an array of blurred out names with their respective countries, sex, level of sensitive data hacked and ransom amount demanded to safeguard their information.

Read: Researchers Discover Hackers Can Hide Malicious Software In Subtitle Files

The Grozio Chirurgija clinic was also approached by the hackers with the demand of €344,000 (around $384643) to buy out the confidential information of their clients. The clinic has refused to comply with the hackers’ demand.

Jonas Staikunas, director of Grozio Chirurgija, has merely chosen to apologize instead.

“Clients, of course, are in shock,” said Jonas Staikunas, director of Grozio Chirurgija. “Once again, I would like to apologize. Cyber-criminals are blackmailers. They are blackmailing our clients with inappropriate text messages.”

The website called Beauty In Lithuania is filled with raving reviews on the Grozio Chirurgija clinic. It is suggested from the reviews that the client-base of the clinic is mostly limited to Europe.

A client named Raffaele R. writes: “Most of us have a part of ourselves that we would like change and I was most definitely in that boat. Having done months of research online and made contact with several clinics across the continent, I chose Grozio Chirurgija in Kaunas and I can say it was the best decision I could possibly have made.”

“We would like to thank all surgeons, nurses (including you) & admin staff with Grozio Chirurgija for the excellent medical care and the perfect results. Because we are so happy with the choice that we have made, we will for sure come back and recommend you to all our friends and family in Ireland and The Netherlands,” wrote another set of clients, Marcel & Erica Hengst.

The Lithuanian police are looking into the matter and have stated that more than a dozen victims have already come forward with allegations that they are being blackmailed for money.

“It's extortion. We're talking about a serious crime,” said Andzejus Raginskis, deputy chief of Lithuania's Criminal Police Bureau.

Earlier this month, more than 200,000 organizations in 150 countries, including the National Health Service and FedEx in the United Kingdom were hit by a hacking operating known as the “WannCry” ransomware. It basically let the hackers take advantage of a flaw within Microsoft’s software and launch cyber attacks by blocking computers until they are paid a certain ransom amount, the Telegraph reported.