Defence Secretary mimic tried to con Branson out of £3.8m

SIR RICHARD BRANSON considered handing almost £4million to a conman pretending to be the Defence Secretary in need of money to save a British diplomat from terrorists, he has revealed.

The Virgin boss said the fraudster sounded “exactly” like Sir Michael Fallon and he added that he was “sympathetic” to his request but wanted to check it was genuine.

Sir Richard believes that the same fraudster successfully impersonated him to convince one of his businessmen friends to hand over £1.5million which he thought was being used for the Hurricane Irma relief effort.

“This story sounds like it has come straight out of a John le Carré book or a James Bond film, but it is sadly all true,” he wrote in a blog on the Virgin website. Sir Richard said that the first attempted con took place six months ago when his assistant received a note on “what appeared to be official government notepaper” claiming to be from Sir Michael requesting an urgent call.

The British billionaire returned the call, he said, continuing: “He asked that we speak in strict confidence and said that a British diplomat had been kidnapped and was being held by terrorists. He told me that British laws

‘This story sounds like it has come straight out of a John le Carré book or a James Bond film, but it is all true’

prevented the Government from paying out ransoms, which he normally completely concurred with.

“But he said on this occasion there was a particular, very sensitive, reason why they had to get this diplomat back. So they were extremely confidentially asking a syndicate of British business persons to step in. I was asked to contribute $5million (£3.8million) of the ransom money, which he assured me the British Government would find a way of paying back.”

He told him that he was “sympathetic” but had seen a lot of scams in recent weeks so would need to examine the authenticity of the request. The caller agreed but when the checks were made, Sir Richard was informed that the Defence Secretary had not been in touch, there had been no kidnap and the police were informed.

Later, he found that a friend had been duped into handing over $2million to supposedly help the victims of Hurricane Irma by someone pretending to be the Virgin boss.

Sir Richard said it was “too sad for words” that the man’s generosity had been preyed upon.

An MOD spokesman said: “We are aware that there have been attempts to impersonate the Defence Secretary for financial gain and have been working with the police to assist catching those responsible.”