UK Prime Minister exchanged messages with impostor posing as White House official

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been in correspondence with someone impersonating a senior official from US President Donald Trump's White House staff, foreign media reported on Monday.

Citing four sources, Politico reports that Burnham initially believed he was communicating with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles herself. He later became suspicious about the authenticity of the exchange and ended the contact.

A spokesperson for Burnham declined to comment further, saying the government does not discuss matters of national security. The White House has stressed that the incident is unrelated to any hacking of Wiles's devices.

A recurring problem

A similar case occurred in the United States last year, when several politicians, business leaders and other public figures received messages from someone impersonating Wiles. Following that incident, the US State Department warned diplomats about attempts to use artificial intelligence to impersonate senior US officials. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also issued a warning about malicious attempts to use AI to mimic US government officials.

Burnham took office as UK prime minister less than a month ago and has since worked to build good relations with the Trump administration.