Celebrity Hackings

Reddit is stepping up its game to stop hackers from leaking stolen nude celebrity photos -- by shutting down the area of the site where the pics were posted.

Reddit vaguely says the pics violate its policies. It seems like it's referring to the alleged underage photos of McKayla Maroney that were posted on the Fappening ... as well as illegally obtained naked pics of celebs like Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Victoria Justice.

The site admins say, "While current US law does not prohibit linking to stolen materials, we deplore the theft of these images and we do not condone their widespread distribution."

Hilary Duff is going on the attack over explicit new Internet photos that purportedly show her nude -- because she says the woman in the pics is NOT her.

A new batch of extremely graphic photos surfaced Friday ... but Duff's rep says they've examined the alleged pics of Hilary and determined they are fake ... and they've alerted the FBI.

We're told ... Hilary has very "defining birthmarks" and recognizable tattoos ... that do not appear on the woman in the new photos. One of the tattoos is an anchor on the inside of Hilary's left ankle that she's had for years ... but again, it doesn't show up in any of the pics.

We're told they've forwarded the links to the FBI ... and anyone who publicly states the pics are of Hilary is "going to meet legal recourse."

The leaked photos of Kate Upton and her boyfriend didn't get out because of an iCloud security breach ... but instead she may have been the victim of one of the oldest tricks in the online scamming game.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... FBI investigators are looking into whether Kate and at least 3 other celebs -- Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jennifer Lawrence, and Lea Michele -- were prime targets of phishing.

If you don't know, here's how it works ... you get an email informing you there's some sort of problem with your account, and in order to fix it you'll need to send personal info -- such as a username, phone number, credit card, or even a password. So, you unwittingly give the crooks all they need to jack your data.

We're told in this case ... the email sent to the celebs might have been doctored up to look like it was coming from Apple. Phishing's been going on since the early days of the Internet, but scammers are so sophisticated now ... their emails look identical to the real deal.

J-Law and Kate's pics -- some with her BF pitcher Justin Verlander -- were among the first ones released Sunday by the hacker.

McKayla Maroney isn't letting the nude photo hacker ruin her life -- laughing off questions about the scumbag during an outing in Bev Hills Tuesday.

The Team USA gymnast was strolling into an office building with her mother Tuesday when she told the photog her fans were being supportive throughout the ordeal.

Jennifer Lawrence's fight to get her hacked nude photos removed from the Internet might have hit a legal snag -- the same one Ellen DeGeneres ran into with that famous Oscar selfie.

Sources connected to the investigation tell TMZ ... Lawrence's attorney fired off a letter to a porn website demanding it take down the nude photos of J-Law because she owns the copyright on the pics. We're told the website isn't buying that argument though.

The site's stance is ... since some of the pics are NOT selfies, the person who actually took those photos would most likely hold the copyright. In its response to Lawrence's attorney ... we're told the site is demanding proof of Jennifer's copyright, or the name of the person who snapped the shots.

Ironically, J-Law was prominent in the Oscar selfie -- which became the most retweeted photo ever when Ellen posted it. But as we told you, Bradley Cooper actually owns the shot because he took it.

FUN FACT: Bradley co-starred with J-Law in "Silver Linings Playbook."

Joanna Krupa has a totally different take on the hacked photos scandal -- she's NOT mad about the possibility of her personal pics leaking, and recommends celebs keep snapping whatever kinds of photos they want.

Our photog got Krupa -- whose name appears on the alleged "master list" of victims -- as she was leaving an Apple store, where she bought an external hard drive ... because she says she's done with the cloud.

Krupa feels bad for people like Jennifer Lawrence, but since she's been in Playboy ... she's not too concerned about nude photos getting out. But you gotta hear her explain why selfie-addicted celebs should keep it up.

We also shot Meagan Good ... who says although her name is also on that list, you won't find her on the cloud.

Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney says she was under 18 when the hacked nude photos of her were taken ... and now she's taking legal action against several porn sites that reposted the images.

TMZ has learned one of Maroney's attorneys fired off a letter to Porn.com ... informing the site that McKayla was underage in several of the photos. The letter demands the images of McKayla -- who turned 18 last December -- be taken down immediately.

Another attorney for the gymnast sent a different letter to multiple websites stating Maroney owns the copyright on the hacked photos.

The legal claims by her attorneys are a strong indication the photos really do show McKayla -- even though she said on Twitter they were "fake photos." It's also possible only portions of the images are really McKayla. The letter is not specific.

Personal accounts of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and other celebs were all individually targeted by hackers, and Apple's iCloud security system was not to blame ... according to Apple.

Apple now says after nearly 2 days of investigating ... their research shows the hackers broke into each celeb's iCloud and/or iPhone accounts by using actual usernames, passwords and security codes.

Apple maintains it was not a breach, and says it's working with law enforcement to find the suspect or suspects involved.

She claims they're fake, but McKayla Maroney's Team USA gymnastics teammates are lashing out on her behalf anyway ... trashing the scumbag who hacked tons of celeb nude pics and posted them online.

Aly Raisman -- a fellow member of the 2012 Gold medal team -- just went to Twitter and sounded off ... saying, "This scandal is not a joke and it is upsetting that an invasion of privacy results in entertainment for some."

She continued, "Please respect the fact that the photos were private and not for the whole world to see. My heart is broken for the women who were violated."

"Every person is entitled to their own privacy. I am saddened that something like this has happened and I hope it never happens again."

Gabby Douglas also weighed in with a message to McKayla that said, "Love ya girl. #WeAreStrong #Champions."

RZA takes a very practical approach to the celebrity nude photo scandal ... hackers can't steal what does not exist.

Our photog spotted the Wu-Tang legend at LAX Monday ... when we asked him about the scandal that has affected dozens of celebs like Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and Ariana Grande

RZA says he's even discussed it with his wife -- you gotta hear him describe their "no nude photos" policy.

The celebrity nude photo leak scandal has reached a boiling point ... and now the FBI is getting involved.

In a statement released Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for the FBI said, "The FBI is aware of the allegations concerning computer intrusions and the unlawful release of material involving high profile individuals, and is addressing the matter. Any further comment would be inappropriate at this time."

Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton -- the two most prominent names in the leak -- have both expressed interest in pursuing legal action in the matter.

An Apple spokesperson told Recode.net they are "active investigating" whether or not their iCloud system was hacked as part of this leak.

Model Kate Upton has joined Jennifer Lawrence in vowing to go after the hackers responsible for the massive celebrity photo leak dominating the Internet.

Upton's lawyer, Lawrence Shire, called the leak an "obviously and outrageous violation" of Upton's privacy. He added, "We intend to pursue anyone disseminating or duplicating these illegally obtained images to the fullest extent possible."

Photos purporting to show a nude Jennifer Lawrence are making their way around on the Internet as part of what appears to be a massive celebrity hacking campaign.

The photos claiming to be of Lawrence were taken in various locations -- some of them appear to be taken in a dressing room, while others are more intimate. Some of the photos show the woman who is allegedly Lawrence taking the photos herself, while others appear to be taken by someone else.

A few of the photos show what appears to be Lawrence in various bathing suits ... but others are fully nude.

There are a ton of other partially nude photos of celebrities posted today ... the alleged victims include Kate Upton, Victoria Justice, Ariana Grande, Kirsten Dunst, Hope Solo, Krysten Ritter, Yvonne Strahovski, and Teresa Palmer.

Lawrence's spokespeople tell TMZ, "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're reaching out to the reps for the women involved. So far, no word back ...

Update 3:25 PM PT -- Victoria Justice denied the photos going around claiming to be her are authentic, writing on Twitter, "These so called nudes of me are FAKE people. Let me nip this in the bud right now. *pun intended*"

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, also part of the leak, confirmed the photos of her were real, writing, "Knowing those photos were deleted long ago, I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this. Feeling for everyone who got hacked. To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home, hope you feel great about yourselves."

Ariana Grande tweeted late Sunday night, saying the photos claiming to be of her are fake, writing, "hell nah.... praying for the people who believed that was me lmaoo... my petite ass is much cuter than that."

The hackers who've exposed the financial secrets of dozens of celebs are now taking credit for the recent string of high-profile swatting pranks in Hollywood ... including the one that just hit Diddy's house.

The hackers updated their website today, taking credit for the Diddy prank as well as the prank targeting Paris Hilton last month.

Sources close to the hacker investigation tell us, the hackers are also privately taking credit for every swatting prank that took place since authorities closed in on the original alleged swatting mastermind (a 12-year-old boy from California).

In addition to Diddy and Paris, we're told the hackers are bragging about swatting Kim Kardashian, Tom Cruise, Chris Brown ... and even the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As we reported, the FBI has been investigating the hackers from the beginning. So far, no arrests have been made.

Angelina Jolie and Lady Gaga are the two newest victims of the celebrity hackers who had already exposed the financial secrets of Michelle Obama and Beyonce ... TMZ has learned.

The hackers returned to the Internet after a brief hiatus ... and immediately hit six more A-list victims, including Angelina, Gaga, NRA advocate Wayne LaPierre, Dennis Rodman, Michael Vick, Secret Service Director Julia Pierson and Robert De Niro.

The hackers have posted what they claim to be the social security numbers, mortgage amounts, credit card info, car loans, banking and other info for the celebs listed on their site.

The hackers' previous website was shut down by its host -- but it's now back up and running with a new domain extension (.re) that suggests it's based out of the French island of Réunion located off the coast of Madagascar.

Along with Beyonce and Michelle, the hackers previously hit names like Mel Gibson, Britney Spears, Ashton Kutcher, Hillary Clinton, Kim Kardashian, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kanye West, Mitt Romney, and Tiger Woods.

The celebrity hackers who have been posting the financial information of a number of celebrities have decided to call it quits ... this according to a message posted on their website.

As TMZ first reported, the website popped up earlier this week and revealed sensitive info on a slew of famous people ... including Beyonce, Jay-Z, Donald Trump, Britney Spears, Mitt Romney, Tiger Woords, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson, Ashton Kutcher, Joe Biden, Robert Mueller, Hillary Clinton, ... and the list goes on.

But today the hackers have called an end to their cyber war, saying, "Hello everyone, this is our final message. Behind this jolly visage of rainbows and top hats, we are people. People with a preference for music, a preference for food; we have varying taste in clothes and television, we are just like you. Even Hitler and Osama Bin Laden had these unique variations and style, and isn't that interesting to know?"

They continued, "We have enjoyed every minute of the past 12 days of providing entertainment and laughs to all of you, sadly it's time to say bon voyage - we hope - inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment,thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love."

The hackers concluded by saying, "If you believe that God makes miracles, you have to wonder if Satan has a few up his sleeve."

That last line is from the show "Dexter" ... which the hackers have been heavily influenced by.