NEW YORK (REUTERS) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating last month's data breach of cheating spouses website AshleyMadison.com, the website's owner said on Tuesday as it lashed out at the hackers for hurting what it said were "innocent" citizens.

It was the first time Avid Line Media confirmed the FBI had joined the investigation. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Toronto Police Services are also involved, it said.

Hours earlier, the hackers, who call themselves The Impact Team, released a huge cache of data containing customer information, including email addresses and credit card details, on the Internet.

The hackers have appointed themselves as "the moral judge, juror, and executioner, seeing fit to impose a personal notion of virtue on all of society," the statement said.

"These are illegitimate acts that have real consequences for innocent citizens who are simply going about their daily lives,"it said.