UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged a small number of text messages with an impersonator posing as White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles around the time he assumed office on July 20, 2026. Although the messages were deemed of no significance, the security breach prompted the British Embassy in Washington to alert the White House. The incident has raised concerns of a renewed compromise of Wiles' contacts, following a similar 2025 FBI probe into US officials targeted by a Wiles impersonator.
Burnham impersonation incident
- ▪The text messages between UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and the Susie Wiles impersonator occurred around the time Burnham took office on July 20, 2026, both while campaigning and shortly after assuming office.
- ▪UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged a small number of text messages with an impersonator posing as White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
- ▪UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham did not speak over the phone with the impersonator, and sources described the exchanged messages as being of no significance.
- ▪UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham reported the communications to appropriate authorities after becoming suspicious that the contact was not genuine.
British embassy White House notification
- ▪Downing Street and the White House declined to comment on the specifics of the incident, with a UK government spokesperson stating they do not comment on national security matters.
- ▪The British Embassy in Washington raised concerns and alerted the White House directly regarding the messages exchanged between UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and the impersonator.
Previous Wiles impersonation case
- ▪During the 2025 impersonation attempts, some recipients became suspicious because the messages contained unusual grammar, were overly formal, and in at least one case requested a transfer of money.
- ▪The previous US investigation revealed that the impersonator used contacts compromised from Susie Wiles' personal cellphone, rather than her official government handset, to target high-profile individuals.
- ▪In May 2025, the FBI and White House launched an investigation after US senators, governors, and business executives received calls and texts from an impersonator pretending to be Susie Wiles.
UK government security concerns
- ▪The UK Foreign Office previously disclosed in 2024 that then-Foreign Secretary David Cameron fell victim to a hoax call and exchanged text messages with an impersonator pretending to be former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
- ▪In 2022, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel were targeted by an imposter pretending to be Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal via Microsoft Teams.
- ▪The incident involving UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham triggered concerns within the UK government that Susie Wiles' phone or contacts list had been compromised again.
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