A White House cyber security official, and several prominent members of the Trump team, have fallen victim to a phishing email fraudster.
A self-described ‘email prankster’ convinced several senior members of the White House to think he was other officials and has published his exploits online.
The prankster posed as ex-White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, ex-chief of staff Reince Priebus and Jared Kushner, showing how dangerous phishing can be as a form of cyber risk.
Search and compare insurance product listings against Phishing from specialty market providers here
Posing as Kushner, the prankster, who tweets under the username @SINON_REBORN, emailed Homeland Security advisor Tom Bossert and invited the cyber security official to a “soiree towards the end of August,”
CNN reports.
Bossert replied to the fake Kushner with his personal email address.
“I try and keep it on the humorous side of things,” the email prankster told
CNN. “I’m not trying to get the keys to the vault or anything like that.”
The prankster then inserted himself into the tussle between Scaramucci and Priebus, both of whom have subsequently left the administration.
As Prebeus, the fraudster contacted Scaramucci and berated him for comments on Twitter.
The real Scarmucci responded: “You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A man would apologise.”
Fake Priebus responded: “I can’t believe you are questioning my ethics! The so-called ‘Mooch’, who can’t even manage his first week in the White House without leaving upset in his wake. I have nothing to apologise for.”
The real Scaramucci shot back: “Read Shakespeare. Particularly Othello. You are right there. My family is fine by the way and will thrive. I know what you did. No more replies from me.”
The prankster also went after Eric Trump, but he soon caught on and forwarded the email to police.
“We take all cyber-related issues very seriously and are looking into these incidents further,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders told
CNN.
The ease with which the prankster was able to pose as those at the top of the US Government highlights that no-one is safe from online attacks, whether they aim for the joke or not.
Related stories:
Far Out Friday: Do insurance scams get any worse than this?
Far Out Friday: Insurance to the rescue after $200k selfie fail
