London — British Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with someone impersonating White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, POLITICO reported Monday, citing four anonymous officials. CBS News’ partner network BBC News said it had confirmed the exchange.
Burnham, who became prime minister in July, exchanged a “few messages” that were “of no significance” with the person, POLITICO quoted one of its sources as saying. Burnham began to suspect the person he was messaging with was not who they claimed to be during the conversation, the officials told the news outlet.
The prime minister’s office at 10 Downing Street did not immediately respond to a CBS News request for comment, but a representative told POLITICO that it would “not comment on national security matters.”
The BBC said it had confirmed the story, reporting that the communication was only a back-and-forth of messages and that Burnham and the unidentified prankster never had a verbal conversation.
What was discussed in the messages and when they were sent has not been revealed.
Last May, CBS News reported that one or more unknown people had accessed Wiles’ personal cellphone and used her contacts to reach out to other top officials pretending to be her. The FBI launched an investigation into the incident.
“The White House takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated,” a White House spokesperson told CBS News at the time.
The exchange with Burnham raised concern inside the British government that Wiles may have been hacked again, POLITICO reported.
The U.K. Embassy in Washington raised the incident with the White House, two of the officials told POLITICO. Neither the White House nor the British Foreign Office immediately responded to CBS News requests for comment on the matter.
Burnham replaced former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had led both men’s Labour Party to a landslide election victory just two years earlier, on July 20.
