British police are investigating after several members of the House of Commons became victims of online phishing for the purpose of subsequent blackmail. The telephone numbers of some of them were given to the scammers by MP William Wragg

How members of the British Parliament faced blackmail attempts

At least 20 people involved in the work of the British Parliament – staff members, deputies and journalists – from the fall of last year to March of this year received strange messages on WhatsApp from unfamiliar numbers. Depending on the sexual orientation of the recipients (all of whom were men), the sender introduced himself as either Abi, Charlie, or Charlotte, and in each case provided precise information about where the recipient usually spent his free time. Further, the communication followed the same pattern: first, the sender claimed that they knew the recipient of the messages and even flirted at some political event or in a bar in Westminster, then he was embarrassed because he was not remembered, and then In some cases, he sent explicit photographs for no reason.

Those who received the messages included three members of the House of Commons, including a sitting government minister, two political journalists, a television presenter and several party workers.

Politico, which reported this in early April, details tells a story Labor Party staff member who, unlike many others, continued to communicate for a relatively long time. “Charlotte,” with whom he allegedly spoke at one of the party conferences, wrote to him: “We haven’t talked for a long time! How are you? Still alone? “Charlotte” then said that they had discussed working with unions at a conference and that the recipient of the messages even convinced her to join the union. At first the man was not sure that they actually communicated, but then he admitted that the meeting was quite likely. The conversation quickly turned to an intimate plane – “Charlotte” sent the man several explicit images, and he did the same. He invited her to meet, to which she replied that she was busy. When the man became suspicious, he tried to call “Charlotte” (unsuccessfully), and then asked for a link to her Instagram account (owned by Meta, recognized as extremist and banned in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism)), which she did not provide. Despite this, they continued to communicate – the man again suggested meeting in a pub. “Charlotte” agreed, but did not come.

The man did not receive any threats or demands, but this experience shocked him – according to him, the conversation was very convincing, it contained a lot of specific information, and “Charlotte” herself expressed herself in a manner consistent with a 20-year-old girl. “It sounds so obvious, but don’t send photos to someone you don’t know or trust, especially if you’re in a politically sensitive position, like working for a member of parliament,” Politico quoted him as saying. “If a conversation quickly escalates into sexting, that’s definitely a red flag.”

BBC political correspondent Henry Zeffman told a similar story last week. He received a message from “Charlie”; after a short conversation, he suspected something was wrong and blocked the sender.

According to cybersecurity experts, these messages were part of a highly personalized phishing attack launched by Internet scammers, aimed at obtaining compromising information about the victim. “The goal was likely simply to obtain indecent images of victims in order to then blackmail them,” Politico quoted Dominic Wojciak, head of the Cyber ​​Security Institute at the University of Liverpool, as saying. But, according to the expert, such a mailing does not look like a sophisticated and well-thought-out attack: the fact that several people were written from one number indicates laziness or poor professional preparedness of the attackers.

All these cases are now being investigated by the police.

Where did the scammers get the numbers?

In early April, it emerged that some of the numbers had been obtained by scammers from William Wragg, a Conservative MP and vice-chairman of the parliamentary “1922 Committee” (a group of Conservative Party backbenchers). On the pages of The Times he said he gave the personal numbers of some of his colleagues to a man he met on the dating app Grindr and to whom he then sent intimate photos of himself. The owners of the numbers given to them subsequently received messages from “Abi” and “Charlie”.

“They had dirt on me. They wouldn’t leave me alone. They asked about people. I gave them several numbers, not all. I told them to stop. They manipulated me, and now I have harmed other people,” the politician told The Times. “With my weakness I caused pain.” I was scared. I’m upset. I am very sorry that my weakness caused pain to other people.”

Following the scandal, Wragg resigned as vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee and now sits in Parliament not as a member of the Conservative Party, but as an independent MP.

The Guardian also found outthat the Metropolitan Police Service received complaints from two victims of this phishing scam back in October and November last year and began an investigation. There was much less information then than there is now. “There was nothing to suggest that these incidents were part of a wider pattern of wrongdoing that would require any warning to parliamentarians and staff,” the service said in a statement. “The scale and coordinated nature of this case has become apparent following the receipt of a number of additional charges resulting from recent media reports.” The service noted that they will continue the investigation.

How did parliament react to the scandal?

British politicians are divided on this story. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt came to Wragg’s defense – he called the politician’s apology “brave and frank” and emphasized that this situation is a lesson for all members of parliament that “they need to be very careful in matters of cybersecurity.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had a similar message: he said Wragg was right to apologize, but “it’s a good reminder to everyone, especially people involved in public life, that obviously you have to be careful about unwanted messages.” that they receive.” The prime minister does not believe the incident symbolizes a leadership crisis in the Conservative Party. “As we can see, there are many bad actors around the world who are trying to undermine our democratic processes,” Sunak said (quote from The Independent).

The opposition views the situation differently. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who previously led the Brexit Party and the UK Independence Party, said Wragg was not a victim, he had shown “astonishing poor judgment” by sending photos of himself to a stranger, and leaking phone numbers undermined the trust of MPs in each other and raises serious national security concerns.

“We should think about the consequences of MPs giving out confidential phone numbers to blackmailers,” wrote Farage in The Telegraph. He insists that an investigation be carried out into Wragg: “Such an investigation will make it clear whether there are other similar Wraggs in Parliament who have been compromised in the same way. The security of the country may depend on this.”