The online hacker who leaked naked photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and an alleged 99 more celebrities may have targeted the stars by phishing, it has been claimed.
Dozens of nude photos of Hunger Games actress Jen were leaked online on Monday, with reports suggesting the hacker responsible had gained access to her iCloud account.
A list of 100 more celebrity names followed, each of whom had allegedly been targeted in what's being called one of the biggest celebrity hacking scandals in history.
But according to TMZ, the FBI are now investigating the possibility that some of the stars were the victims of phishing - when hackers send an email asking you to send personal information over to fix a problem, and so gaining access to your profiles.
The site reports Jennifer, Hollywood actress Kate , Glee star Lea Michele and actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead were four of the prime targets of the scam.
An email sent to the stars was reportedly made to look like it had come from Apple, to trick them into releasing their details.
Kate confirmed photos had been leaked of her, and her attorney told us: "This is obviously an outrageous violation of our client Kate Upton's privacy.
"We intend to pursue anyone disseminating or duplicating these illegally obtained images to the fullest extent possible."
Meanwhile Jennifer's agent told the Mirror : "This is a flagrant violation of privacy.
“The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence."
We have contacted reps for all four stars for comment.
