London [UK], August 18 : British Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with an individual impersonating White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles before growing suspicious and terminating the interaction, according to a report published by Politico.
Citing four unnamed officials, the report stated on Monday that Burnham believed he was in dialogue with Wiles, one of US President Donald Trump's closest advisers, until concerns regarding the authenticity of the communications led him to cease contact.
According to Politico, only a small number of messages were sent after Burnham assumed office at 10 Downing Street, with one official familiar with the matter describing the exchanges as being of "no significance."
The British Embassy in Washington was concerned to the extent that it brought the issue to the attention of the White House, the report noted.
The occurrence initially sparked apprehensions within the British government that Wiles' phone might have been breached again.
However, a White House official dismissed that possibility, clarifying that the incident had "nothing to do with the chief of staff's devices being hacked."
Last year, the White House, alongside the FBI, launched an inquiry into a spate of text messages and phone calls directed at elected representatives, governors, senators, and corporate executives by an imposter pretending to be Wiles.
Shortly following those events, the US State Department alerted diplomats regarding efforts to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and potentially other high-ranking officials through the use of artificial intelligence.
The alert was issued after an impersonator posing as Rubio reportedly reached out to at least three foreign ministers, a US senator, and a state governor.