Westminster honey trap sexting scandal ‘extremely troubling,’ says minister
Politico EU (archive.ph)
By Noah Keate, Aggie Chambre, and Dan Bloom
2024-04-05 14:19:59GMT
LONDON — The WhatsApp honey trap scandal that has shaken Westminster politics is “very serious,” a British government minister said Friday, after a senior Tory MP revealed his own part in it.
Treasury Minister Gareth Davies was responding after Conservative William Wragg said he had shared the numbers of colleagues with a man on dating app Grindr, who he feared “had compromising things on me.”
POLITICO first revealed Wednesday that MPs, staffers and journalists in Westminster have been targeted with alluring WhatsApp messages from two unknown phone numbers that, in several cases, escalated to the sender sending explicit images.
Not all of those targeted had met Wragg in the past, and several on the Labour side raised questions about whether he would have had their number, POLITICO's London Playbook reported.
But speaking to Times Radio, Davies said: “It’s obviously extremely troubling and very serious. Will has recognized the seriousness and apologized. People do make mistakes, of course they do.” Wragg will retain the Conservative whip after apologizing.
Wragg, chair of the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee, stunned Westminster on Thursday evening when he told the Times that the person in question “wouldn’t leave me alone.”
He said: “They would ask for people. I gave them some numbers, not all of them. I told him to stop. He’s manipulated me and now I’ve hurt other people.”
Davies said he had not personally been contacted in a similar way — but urged anyone who felt they’d been a victim of blackmail to go to the police.
‘Scared’
To date 13 men are known to have received messages from the numbers, with at least five reporting them to the Parliamentary Security Department. The true number targeted may never be known. Some senior Tories have suggested a foreign state could be behind the attack.
The messages received by all the men tended to arrive late at night, claim they had met their targets in a Westminster bar or political event, and use similar phrases like “had a little flirt.”
Wragg is the MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester. He had already announced, before news of the scandal broke, that he planned to stand down at the next election.
In one message seen by POLITICO, the sender — giving their name as “Charlie” — told a victim they previously worked for Wragg.
'Very reckless'
Wragg’s colleagues on the Commons public administration committee — which scrutinizes the inner workings of Whitehall — rallied around him Friday.
One MP on the committee, granted anonymity to speak freely about the make-up of the committee, said Wragg “has been a very good chair and continues to be a very good chair” of the committee.
They said they had “no anger or frustration with Will.”
“These things happen,” the MP said. “Foolish things happen. … It’s a good story but I’m not sure it should be life changing for the life of PACAC.”
A second committee MP said of Wragg’s conduct: “It’s a sad story but he was very reckless.”
House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle told MPs and staff Thursday that the Parliamentary Security Department is working with “partners in government” to “analyze and understand the nature of these messages and any related security risk.”
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Second UK Tory lawmaker says he was targeted in honey trap sexting scam
Politico EU (archive.ph)
By Tomasso Lecca
2024-04-07 06:56:55GMT
British Conservative member of parliament Luke Evans revealed that he’s among the U.K. politicians targeted in the sexting scandal first reported by POLITICO on Tuesday.
Evans is the second parliamentarian to go public about receiving alluring personal messages and explicit images, following senior Conservative MP William Wragg — who admitted on Thursday that he gave some phone numbers to a man he met on the dating app Grindr who had “compromising things on me.”
Evans appears to be the lawmaker who first alerted authorities to the phishing attacks.
“A month ago,” Evans said in a video posted on Facebook on Friday, “I was a victim of cyber flashing and malicious communications and blew the whistle by reporting it to the police and the parliamentary authorities as soon as this happened.”
The MP then told the story of the first suspicious message he received while he was with his wife: “I got a one-time open photo on WhatsApp of an explicit image of a naked lady.”
“The next day I reported it to the police, the authorities and the chief whip,” he explained.
The second set of malicious messages came 10 days later. This time the politician was with his team, “so we were able to record the conversation and catch photos and videos of the messages coming through including another explicit female image.”
Evans also explained why he didn’t go public until now. “I wanted it to be private because it’s an ongoing police investigation [that has] been ongoing for a month,” he said.
Earlier this week, Leicestershire Police and London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed they were investigating reports of malicious communications.
Since the Westminster sexting scandal broke, “I’ve been hounded by journalists asking me about it. It’s not too difficult to work out, there are only a few Leicestershire MPs,” Evans added.
“I’m just pleased I blew the whistle, reported it to the authorities and it’s now being looked into,” he said.
POLITICO previously reported how a serving minister plus multiple MPs, party staffers and political journalists were among those who received unsolicited messages — sometimes called a “spear phishing attack”— from two suspicious mobile numbers sent by users calling themselves “Abi” or “Charlie.”
William Wragg, chairman of the Commons public administration committee, was the first to publicly confirm being a victim of the phishing scandal. He also admitted to having given phone numbers to the perpetrator after being threatened.
More than 10 men are known to have received messages, with at least five reporting them to the Parliamentary Security Department, but the true number targeted may never be known.
Politico EU (archive.ph)
By Noah Keate, Aggie Chambre, and Dan Bloom
2024-04-05 14:19:59GMT
LONDON — The WhatsApp honey trap scandal that has shaken Westminster politics is “very serious,” a British government minister said Friday, after a senior Tory MP revealed his own part in it.
Treasury Minister Gareth Davies was responding after Conservative William Wragg said he had shared the numbers of colleagues with a man on dating app Grindr, who he feared “had compromising things on me.”
POLITICO first revealed Wednesday that MPs, staffers and journalists in Westminster have been targeted with alluring WhatsApp messages from two unknown phone numbers that, in several cases, escalated to the sender sending explicit images.
Not all of those targeted had met Wragg in the past, and several on the Labour side raised questions about whether he would have had their number, POLITICO's London Playbook reported.
But speaking to Times Radio, Davies said: “It’s obviously extremely troubling and very serious. Will has recognized the seriousness and apologized. People do make mistakes, of course they do.” Wragg will retain the Conservative whip after apologizing.
Wragg, chair of the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee, stunned Westminster on Thursday evening when he told the Times that the person in question “wouldn’t leave me alone.”
He said: “They would ask for people. I gave them some numbers, not all of them. I told him to stop. He’s manipulated me and now I’ve hurt other people.”
Davies said he had not personally been contacted in a similar way — but urged anyone who felt they’d been a victim of blackmail to go to the police.
‘Scared’
To date 13 men are known to have received messages from the numbers, with at least five reporting them to the Parliamentary Security Department. The true number targeted may never be known. Some senior Tories have suggested a foreign state could be behind the attack.
The messages received by all the men tended to arrive late at night, claim they had met their targets in a Westminster bar or political event, and use similar phrases like “had a little flirt.”
Wragg is the MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester. He had already announced, before news of the scandal broke, that he planned to stand down at the next election.
In one message seen by POLITICO, the sender — giving their name as “Charlie” — told a victim they previously worked for Wragg.
'Very reckless'
Wragg’s colleagues on the Commons public administration committee — which scrutinizes the inner workings of Whitehall — rallied around him Friday.
One MP on the committee, granted anonymity to speak freely about the make-up of the committee, said Wragg “has been a very good chair and continues to be a very good chair” of the committee.
They said they had “no anger or frustration with Will.”
“These things happen,” the MP said. “Foolish things happen. … It’s a good story but I’m not sure it should be life changing for the life of PACAC.”
A second committee MP said of Wragg’s conduct: “It’s a sad story but he was very reckless.”
House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle told MPs and staff Thursday that the Parliamentary Security Department is working with “partners in government” to “analyze and understand the nature of these messages and any related security risk.”
---
Second UK Tory lawmaker says he was targeted in honey trap sexting scam
Politico EU (archive.ph)
By Tomasso Lecca
2024-04-07 06:56:55GMT
British Conservative member of parliament Luke Evans revealed that he’s among the U.K. politicians targeted in the sexting scandal first reported by POLITICO on Tuesday.
Evans is the second parliamentarian to go public about receiving alluring personal messages and explicit images, following senior Conservative MP William Wragg — who admitted on Thursday that he gave some phone numbers to a man he met on the dating app Grindr who had “compromising things on me.”
Evans appears to be the lawmaker who first alerted authorities to the phishing attacks.
“A month ago,” Evans said in a video posted on Facebook on Friday, “I was a victim of cyber flashing and malicious communications and blew the whistle by reporting it to the police and the parliamentary authorities as soon as this happened.”
The MP then told the story of the first suspicious message he received while he was with his wife: “I got a one-time open photo on WhatsApp of an explicit image of a naked lady.”
“The next day I reported it to the police, the authorities and the chief whip,” he explained.
The second set of malicious messages came 10 days later. This time the politician was with his team, “so we were able to record the conversation and catch photos and videos of the messages coming through including another explicit female image.”
Evans also explained why he didn’t go public until now. “I wanted it to be private because it’s an ongoing police investigation [that has] been ongoing for a month,” he said.
Earlier this week, Leicestershire Police and London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed they were investigating reports of malicious communications.
Since the Westminster sexting scandal broke, “I’ve been hounded by journalists asking me about it. It’s not too difficult to work out, there are only a few Leicestershire MPs,” Evans added.
“I’m just pleased I blew the whistle, reported it to the authorities and it’s now being looked into,” he said.
POLITICO previously reported how a serving minister plus multiple MPs, party staffers and political journalists were among those who received unsolicited messages — sometimes called a “spear phishing attack”— from two suspicious mobile numbers sent by users calling themselves “Abi” or “Charlie.”
William Wragg, chairman of the Commons public administration committee, was the first to publicly confirm being a victim of the phishing scandal. He also admitted to having given phone numbers to the perpetrator after being threatened.
More than 10 men are known to have received messages, with at least five reporting them to the Parliamentary Security Department, but the true number targeted may never be known.
