British Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently exchanged messages with an individual impersonating a top White House official, according to reports. Burnham believed he was communicating with Susie Wiles, the U.S. President's chief of staff, before becoming suspicious and ending the conversation.
A spokesperson for Burnham declined to comment on the incident, citing policy not to discuss national security matters. Politico first reported the exchange, citing four unnamed officials.
The White House stated that the incident did not involve any hacking of Wiles' devices. This event follows a pattern of similar incidents investigated by the U.S. government last year, where prominent figures received messages from impostors posing as Wiles.
Earlier warnings from the State Department alerted U.S. diplomats to attempts to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and potentially other officials, with the use of artificial intelligence suspected. These warnings came after an impostor, posing as Rubio, attempted to contact foreign ministers, a U.S. senator, and a governor.
The FBI had previously issued warnings about "malicious actors" exploiting AI to impersonate senior U.S. government officials. Burnham, who assumed the prime minister role less than a month ago, had been working to establish positive relations with the White House.