British Prime Minister Andy Burnham briefly exchanged digital messages with a fraudster impersonating White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles before realizing the contact was illegitimate.

 

Burnham exchanged messages with impersonator of top Trump aide

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham briefly exchanged digital messages with a fraudster impersonating White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles before realizing the contact was illegitimate.

 

Key Details of the Security Incident

• The Target: UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who assumed office in July 2026.
• The Persona: The prankster posed as Susie Wiles, Donald Trump’s White House Chief of Staff and one of his closest political advisers.
• The Exchange: A "few messages" were sent back and forth, but officials insist they were strictly a text exchange with no voice or video calls, and were "of no significance."
• The Discovery: Burnham became suspicious of the contact, halted communications, and immediately flagged the incident to security officials.

Diplomatic and Security Fallout

The incident raised immediate concerns within the British government that Wiles' personal devices or contacts may have been compromised again. The British Embassy in Washington raised the matter directly with the White House.

When pressed for comments on the lapse in communication vetting, Downing Street and Downing Street spokespersons stated, "We do not comment on national security matters."

Context of Previous Hacking & Hoaxes

This is not an isolated event for either administration, as foreign adversaries and pranksters have frequently targeted UK and US leadership:

• Susie Wiles' Prior Security Issues: The FBI previously launched an investigation into the hacking of Wiles' personal cellphone contacts, which had been used to target other top officials. She was also targeted by an Iranian cyberespionage unit. [, 3]
• Past British Victims:
• In 2024, then-Foreign Secretary David Cameron fell victim to a video hoax and text exchange with an impersonator pretending to be former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
• In 2022, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel were targeted by a sophisticated Microsoft Teams prank call mimicking Ukraine's Prime Minister.
• In 2018, Boris Johnson, while serving as Foreign Secretary, held an 18-minute phone conversation about international diplomacy with a caller posing as the Prime Minister of Armenia.