UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with an individual who was pretending to be Susie Wiles, US President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, in a security incident that has reportedly been referred to the appropriate authorities.
The incident was first reported by Politico, which said Burnham communicated with the person claiming to be Wiles before becoming suspicious that the contact was not genuine.
Sources said only a few messages were exchanged and that “No messages of significance” were involved.
A UK government spokesperson declined to provide further details, saying: “We do not comment on national security matters.”
It is understood that the communication took place entirely through text messages and that Burnham did not have a conversation or call with the person impersonating Wiles.
Sources said the messages were “quickly reported to the appropriate authorities” after officials became concerned that the contact was suspicious.
The latest incident comes against the background of an earlier security breach involving Wiles.
The BBC previously reported that the FBI investigated the hacking of Wiles’ phone in May last year. Wiles said her personal phone had been compromised after one or more impersonators obtained access to her contacts and used them to contact senior US officials.
Although the incident involved Wiles’ personal phone rather than an official government device, the people targeted included US senators, governors and prominent business executives.
Wiles, one of Trump’s closest political allies, was also previously targeted by a cyber-espionage group linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 2024.
The latest impersonation incident highlights the potential security risks created when attackers use the identities and contact information of senior government officials to establish apparently legitimate communication with political leaders.
According to Politico, Burnham exchanged the messages with the person posing as Wiles before becoming suspicious about the authenticity of the contact.
The limited nature of the exchange means there is currently no indication that sensitive information was disclosed.
However, the fact that the communication involved a senior UK political figure and someone impersonating a senior White House official makes the incident significant from a security perspective.
Officials are understood to have acted after the messages were considered suspicious, with the matter being passed to the relevant authorities.
The Burnham incident is not the first time a senior British politician has been targeted by someone pretending to be a foreign leader or official.
In 2024, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office confirmed that then-Foreign Secretary David Cameron had been targeted in a hoax communication involving someone impersonating former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Cameron also exchanged several text messages with the impersonator.
The Foreign Office subsequently made details of the incident public because of concerns that the communication could be “manipulated”.
Cameron had previously dealt with Poroshenko on several occasions while serving as prime minister, including during international summits, which may have helped make the impersonation appear credible.
Other UK government ministers have faced similar attempts.
In 2022, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and then-Home Secretary Priti Patel were targeted by an individual impersonating Denys Shmyhal, who was Ukraine’s prime minister.
The communications were conducted through Microsoft Teams, with Wallace blaming Russian “dirty tricks” for the attempted deception.
A Ministry of Defence source described the video call as “fairly sophisticated”, noting that it had come through another government department, which increased its apparent credibility.
The incidents demonstrate how impersonation attacks can exploit existing political relationships and trusted communication channels rather than relying solely on traditional hacking techniques.
The Burnham episode underscores the growing security challenge facing politicians and senior government officials, particularly as political communication increasingly takes place through personal phones and messaging platforms.
An attacker does not necessarily need to gain direct access to a government system to cause concern. By impersonating a trusted official, obtaining access to a contact list or exploiting an existing relationship, they can attempt to create a credible channel of communication with influential decision-makers.
In Burnham’s case, officials say the exchange was limited and that the messages contained nothing significant. Nevertheless, the incident has been reported to the relevant authorities, while Downing Street has declined to discuss the details because of the national-security implications.
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