MP targeted in ‘phishing’ attack

A STRING of explicit photos and suggestive texts have been sent to people working in Parliament in a suspected “phishing” attack.

A Labour MP, along with a political journalist and four members of staff, all received unsolicited WhatsApp messages from two mobile phone numbers between October 2023 and February this year.

Dominik Wojtczak, head of the Cybersecurity Institute at the University of Liverpool, said he believed the messages were aimed at gathering compromising information about the people targeted.

“The purpose is most likely to simply obtain indecent images of the victims and then blackmail them,” he told Politico.

The messages start with the sender claiming to have met the recipient at a recent political event or venue.

In three of the cases, the sender told the victims they “had a little flirt”.

But the other three victims were sent explicit images. One Labour Party staffer was contacted by “Charlotte” who claimed they had met at the party conference.

After she sent him photos, he reciprocated – but then became suspicious.

He said: “It was very convincing. There was so much specific information and the way they were texting was just so believable for a woman in their 20s.

“I’ve been pretty shook up, anxious and worried...and just embarrassed I fell for it.”

Ciaran Martin, ex-chief of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, said: “Malicious actors, including nation states, have a history of using digital messaging to try to cultivate relationships with people they think have political influence.

“The key message is anyone working in Westminster can expect stuff like this.”