2 weeks ago
UK PM Andy Burnham Duped by Susie Wiles Imposter
A very important person in the UK, Prime Minister Andy Burnham, got messages from someone pretending to be a top helper of the American President.
The fake person pretended to be Susie Wiles, who works in the White House.
Mr. Burnham started to think something was wrong after a few messages.
The messages were not phone calls, just text messages.
The UK government said it is a national security matter and would not talk about it.
They did not say the messages did not happen.
The UK embassy in Washington told the White House about it because they were worried.
The White House said the fake messages had nothing to do with Susie Wiles' phone being hacked.
Last year, some people got fake messages from someone pretending to be the President's helper.
Police and the FBI looked into that problem.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with someone posing as White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, according to a Politico report citing four officials.
Downing Street declined to comment, calling the matter a 'national security matter,' but did not deny the exchange took place.
Only a few messages were exchanged, never via phone calls, and one official said they were 'of no significance.'
The British Embassy in Washington raised the matter with the White House over concerns that Wiles' phone had been hacked again.
A White House official said the incident had nothing to do with Wiles' devices being hacked, despite last year's hacking probe involving her cellphone.
- Who
- UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and an unidentified impostor posing as White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
- What
- Burnham exchanged a few text messages with the impostor before becoming suspicious of the contact.
- Where
- Between the UK (Downing Street) and Washington; the messaging channel was not revealed.
- When
- Shortly after Burnham became UK Prime Minister at the end of July; exact dates were not disclosed.
- Why
- The impostor's motive is unclear; UK officials feared Wiles' phone had been hacked again, though the White House denied any link to hacking.
UK officials' concern
White House response
Was Wiles' phone hacked again?
UK officials' concern
UK officials feared Wiles' phone had been hacked again, as happened last year, and the British Embassy raised the matter with the White House.
White House response
A White House official said the incident had nothing to do with the Chief of Staff's devices being hacked.
Key facts
- Reported by
- Politico, citing four officials
- People involved
- UK PM Andy Burnham and an impostor posing as Susie Wiles
- Number of messages
- A few
- Communication method
- Text messages only; no phone calls
- Downing Street response
- Declined to comment, citing a national security matter
- White House response
- Incident had nothing to do with Wiles' devices being hacked
- Previous incident
- Last year's probe after fake messages claiming to be from Trump's chief of staff
- Burnham-Trump contact
- A phone call shortly after Burnham became PM; no meeting yet
Quotes
British Prime Minister’s Office official
An unnamed representative of Downing Street
“This incident had nothing to do with the Chief of Staff's devices being hacked.”
NDTV
“The messages were "of no significance."”
NDTV
Sources
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