British Prime Minister Duped by Impersonator in Communication with U.S.

The British Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with a person pretending to be the chief of staff for U.S. President Donald Trump. This incident was reported on Monday.

A spokesperson for Burnham declined to provide comments, citing regulations that prevent discussions on national security matters. Politico was the first to report this, citing four unidentified officials. They stated that Burnham initially believed he was messaging Susie Wiles before becoming suspicious and halting the communication.

The White House indicated that this situation was not related to any hacking of Wiles’ devices.

Last year, the U.S. government investigated messages sent to elected officials, business executives, and other prominent figures by someone impersonating Wiles. Shortly after these incidents, the State Department warned U.S. diplomats about attempts to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio through artificial intelligence. This warning followed discoveries of attempts by an impersonator to contact at least three foreign ministers, a U.S. senator, and a governor.

The FBI had previously warned about ‘malicious actors’ using AI to impersonate government officials.

Burnham, who became prime minister less than a month ago, has been trying to build strong ties with the White House. Initially, Trump had a positive rapport with Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, but later distanced himself.

This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the aid of a generative AI tool.