Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, reported that she has received numerous messages from “pranksters” and malicious actors posing as US government officials, it has been reported. .
As the ambassador shared in a post on Facebook, in recent days her phone has been bombarded with false messages. The attackers pose as American officials and request direct contacts with representatives of the Ukrainian government or demand an urgent conversation. Attackers often claim to be communicating from a secure phone line.
“Of course, we are in constant contact with all our partners and use only verified communication channels. As a result, all attempts of this type were immediately detected and reported to the competent authorities,” said the ambassador.
Markarova explained that she decided to make the incidents public due to the increase in such attempts and the high quality of the execution. Furthermore, he urged his colleagues to remain vigilant and carefully verify contacts from unknown phone numbers, emails or messaging platforms.
It is not the first time something similar has happened. Last June, former UK foreign minister David Cameron was the victim of a prankster posing as former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko.
