When Leslie Deem heard the news that Toronto-based Ashley Madison had a data breach, she rushed to check if she was one of the 39 million people who had their personal information leaked online.

Happily-married Deem didn’t sign up to be a part of Ashley Madison, a website that helps people cheat on their spouses, but, for more than a year, somebody had been using her email for their own Ashley Madison profile, looping her into their web of adultery and tainting her reputation in the process.

Deem told her husband about the account right away, and he even tried to help her take it down. Since winding up on the ignominious Ashley Madison user list, she said she’s glad she’s been upfront with him from the beginning.

“What if I had never told him?” she said. “We have a wonderful relationship, but . . . I’m glad I told him as soon as I started getting the emails.”

Since data on millions of users was posted online, anyone with an Internet connection can find out if their spouse, friend or local politician was looking for something extra on the side.

Avid Life Media, the company behind Ashley Madison, declined to comment on Deem’s circumstances, but has vehemently condemned the hack and those who pass judgement on users identified in it.

“Regardless of the nature of the content, our customers, this company, and its employees are all exercising their legal and individual rights, and all deserve the ability to do so unhindered by outside interference, vigilantism, selective moralizing and judgment,” the company said in a written statement after the data leak.

Ashley Madison doesn’t use email verification, which means anyone can sign up for an account using someone else’s email.

Once the account is created, they can message others directly through the website, they don’t need access to the email.

Police timeline of Ashley Madison hacking

Complaints filed to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission show that since 2009, a number of people have complained about having fake accounts created using their name or information.

Deem first noticed something was amiss when she began receiving emails from Ashley Madison.

Thinking nothing of it, she joked with her husband about the unwelcome “spam.”

But after a few more made their way into her inbox, she realized her email was actually connected to an account.

“I thought okay, this isn’t cute anymore,” she said.

“Hello gentlemen . . . looking for excitement, adventure and fun!” the profile read.

Although the account used her email, it did not use her name or photos, and the height, weight and age were “extremely off,” she said.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Wanting to be rid of the intrusive and tawdry association, she tried to delete her account. But when she clicked on the “delete account” link at the bottom of one of these emails, she was directed to a web page advising her that she should pay $19 for a “full delete.”

Furious at being asked to pay to delete an account she never signed up for, she got her husband, an attorney, to write to the company’s member services.

After many attempts to contact Ashley Madison went unanswered, Deem decided to complain to the FTC, asking for action to be taken on her behalf.

“I just did not feel that I should give them money,” she said.

Avid Life Media says it has always offered a free delete option, and the paid delete was only for those who wanted to remove all messages sent to other Ashley Madison members, an additional service.

Since the hack, the company has offered the “full delete” for free.

Deem never did get a response from the company. Meanwhile, she received message after message from Ashley Madison letting her know every time an amorous suitor sent her a message on their website or “winked” at her online. As she didn’t control the account, she couldn’t respond, but one potential paramour even went so far as to email her at her personal email, which was clearly associated with the online profile.

“This is getting kind of weird,” she said.

Eventually, Deem just gave up, and made peace with the fact that her email was associated with the site.

“[The data breach] is unfortunate for myself and other people like me that actually didn’t want their name or email addresses associated with it,” she said.

Although she feels bad for people such as herself who have had their names dragged through the mud because of the hack, her sympathy doesn’t extend to people who legitimately signed up with the website, and she said they should have been prepared for the eventuality that their information could be leaked.

“In this day and age, anything can be hacked,” she said.