“I haven't seen you for so long. Are you still single?” This is one of several messages that some workers attached to the British Parliament have started receiving on WhatsApp from unknown numbers in recent months, in what appears to be a scheme to threaten them. What starts with a simple, seemingly harmless message, quickly turns into sexually suggestive conversations and sometimes sending explicit images. Journal Politics Already Six men were identified – Four staff members, one political journalist and one Labor MP. Recipients of this type of content.
The scheme used two different phone numbers, which, according to Politico, were not registered with the regular phone network. In one of them, the behind-the-scenes person identified himself as “Charlie,” a man when speaking to two gay men, and a woman with the same name, abbreviated “Charlotte” when messaging bisexuals. Men. The other phone number was related to a woman identified as “Abby” who contacted three men associated with the British Parliament.
Messages received from October 2023 to February this year follow a similar pattern. “Abby” and “Charlie” begin by explaining that they have recently crossed paths with a news-taker at a political event – at the Labor Party's annual conference or games, aka the Parliamentary Bar. Sometimes, the person behind the scenes tells the target that they sense a situation For fun Between the two and in at least four situations it quickly turns into a sexual conversation. At the very least Three victims of the scheme also received revealing images.
In all cases, the author of the news revealed extensive knowledge of the program's victims. It contains specific references to their work in politics and aspects of their personal lives – in one case mentioning the recent end of a relationship. “He Pretty sure they knew a lot of specific information The way they were talking was actually like a woman in her 20s,” one of the program’s targets told Politico, adding that she began to suspect the situation when she tried to arrange a face-to-face meeting. Sharing intimate pictures with the concerned person.
So far, the man said, he hasn't received any threats or demands, but experts interviewed by the newspaper think that's the plan's intent. “There are many indications that it is not true. But the level of sophistication need not be very high. These actions will inevitably upset them, and that's clearly what happened,” John Scott Railton, a fraud investigation officer, told the newspaper. Fishing from the University of Toronto.
At least one of the numbers used in the scheme has already been reported as suspicious several times, a British site called who-called.co.uk, which allows users to look up the origins of contacts.
