UK PM Exchanged Messages With Someone Posing As Trump Ally: Report

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with an impostor posing as White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, a report said on Monday.

According to the Politico report quoting four officials, Burnham grew suspicious of the contact being illegitimate only after communicating with the person in question.

The identity of the person posing as Wiles has not been revealed yet.

The British Prime Minister's Office at Downing Street denied to comment on the breach, calling it a "national security matter". But it also did not deny that the messages were exchanged between Burnham and the person.

One person quoted by Politico, who was briefed on the matter, said the communication was never via phone calls and only a "few messages" were exchanged after Burnham took over as the Prime Minister of UK.

Downing Street did not reveal when the messages were exchanged, how many there were, or whether the two parties texted each other over WhatsApp or any other channel.

The official insisted that the messages in question were "of no significance." It was unclear what exact messages were exchanged.

Financial Times separately reported that concerns about the suspicious activity were "quickly reported to the appropriate authorities" after a few messages between the two parties.

Burnham has not met US President Donald Trump yet, but the two leaders have had a phone call shortly after the Labour leader took over as Prime Minister.

According to two of the officials quoted by Politico, the British Embassy in Washington raised the matter with the White House out of extreme concern. The UK government feared that Wiles' phone was hacked again, like it happened last year.

"This incident had nothing to do with the Chief of Staff's devices being hacked," a White House official was quoted as saying by Politico.

Last year, the White House and the FBI launched a probe after senators, governors and US business leaders said they had received text messages and phone calls from someone claiming to be Trump's chief of staff.

Later, several media outlets reported that Susie Wiles had told her associates that her cellphone had been hacked. Wiles, a top Trump ally, was also among the people targeted a cyber espionage unit associated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards.