Arabic version: بورنهام تبادل رسائل مع منتحل شخصية سوزي وايلز

According to BBC News, Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with a person posing as Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff to US President Donald Trump. Downing Street declined to comment on the security breach, which was first reported by Politico.

Officials told Politico that Burnham communicated with the person claiming to be Wiles before becoming suspicious that the contact was illegitimate. They said only a few messages were exchanged. It is understood the contact was by messages and that there was no conversation between Burnham and the impersonator.

Sources said no messages of significance were exchanged and that the texts were quickly reported to the appropriate authorities once they were considered suspicious. Downing Street did not say when the messages were sent, how many there were, or whether WhatsApp or another system was used. A government spokesperson said: “We do not comment on national security matters.”

A White House official told the BBC the latest incident had nothing to do with Wiles’ phone being hacked. The FBI had previously investigated the hacking of her phone in May last year, after an impersonator or impersonators used her contacts file to message senior US officials. Separately, the UK government is removing the publicly available personal mobile numbers of Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, Justice Secretary Alex Norris and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant from websites.