Achi news desk-
LONDON –
British lawmakers who may have been targeted in a sexting scam were urged to go to the police on Friday, after a senior Conservative admitted he had leaked the personal phone numbers of some colleagues to an unidentified individual who held “compromising” material on him.
William Wragg, who chairs the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee in Parliament, told The Times of London newspaper that he had passed on the phone numbers to a man he met on a gay dating app, after he sent pictures personal of himself.
Wragg, 36, told The Times that the man had “compromised” him and was “scared” and “meaned” to give the unknown individual he had met on Grindr his colleagues’ numbers. .
“I gave them some numbers, not all of them,” he said. “I chatted with a guy on an app and we exchanged pictures. We were supposed to meet for drinks, but we didn’t. Then he started asking for numbers of people. I was worried because he had stuff on me. He gave me a WhatsApp number, which is not working now. I’ve hurt people by being weak. I was scared. I’m mortified.”
Treasury minister Gareth Davies encouraged those affected to go to the police.
“Will Wragg has apologized for the actions he took, but I think it’s clear to anyone who hears about the situation he was in, people react in different ways,” he told Sky News.
The honey trap sexting scam has been described as “spear phishing,” a type of cyber attack that targets specific groups. It involves scammers pretending to be trustworthy senders in order to steal personal or sensitive information.
Wragg’s revelation came after days of speculation, fueled by an article published in Politico, that an unknown number had contacted a number of current and former senators on WhatsApp, detailing previous meetings with politicians, in attempts to acquire personal information or sensitive. The report said some of those targeted had received nude images, with at least two responding by sending pictures of themselves.
“I would say to anyone watching this, if you ever feel like you’re in a compromising position, if you ever feel like you’re being blackmailed, then you should go to the police straight away because it is an extremely serious matter,” Davies added.
Leicestershire Police in central England have confirmed they are investigating a report of malicious communications after a number of unsolicited messages were sent to a local lawmaker last month.
