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UK prime minister duped by email impersonator posing as White House chief of staff

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with a scammer impersonating White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, according to media reports.

UK prime minister duped by email impersonator posing as White House chief of staff

Former UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham engaged in correspondence with what appeared to be a scammer posing as White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, according to media reports. The exchange, reported by Politico, involved a small number of messages sent via an undisclosed communication method. Burnham later expressed doubt about the authenticity of the correspondent.

The British embassy in Washington deemed the situation serious enough to inform the White House. Specifics regarding the nature of the messages and the timing of the correspondence remain undisclosed. A spokesperson for Burnham's office declined to comment on the matter, citing national security concerns, without explicitly denying the exchange.

This incident is not unique to Burnham; in 2024, the UK government released footage of a phone call in which then-Foreign Secretary David Cameron was duped by an individual posing as former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The Foreign Office stated at the time that it released the recording to prevent any attempts to manipulate it.

Written by urgent.news from Ajel English's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.

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