Prankster from UK 'dupes top level White House figures' in series of extraordinary fake emails

White House treating the email prank as a serious breach of cyber security
Donald Trump's administration faced new embarrassment after senior figures became victims of an email prank
AP
David Gardner1 August 2017

A string of top White House figures including President Trump’s sacked communications chief Anthony Scaramucci were apparently tricked into embarrassing email exchanges by an online hoaxer, it was revealed today.

The extraordinary online exchange is a parting humiliation for Mr Scaramucci - known as “The Mooch” - after his firing yesterday following just 10 tumultuous days in the job.

His tenure came to an end as it began - in a torrent of public indiscretion.

He appears to have compared the dismissal last Friday of Mr Priebus as White House chief-of-staff with Shakespeare’s Othello and told the email imposter: “You know what you did.”

Days before being fired himself, Mr Scaramucci also boasted he would “thrive” in his new role as the public face of the administration.

Heaping further ridicule on the Trump White House, the anonymous prankster, who is from the UK and who uses the name Sinon Reborn on a mail.com account, also claims to have posed as Jared Kushner, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., to fool other senior officials.

Screenshots of the alleged email conversations were posted on Twitter and, according to CNN, White House officials acknowledged the incidents and said they were taking the matter seriously.

“We take all cyber related issues very seriously and are looking into these incidents further,” said Mr Trump’s Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The online prankster posing as Mr Priebus taunted Mr Scaramucci on Saturday, including a reference to John Kelly, the general named as the administration’s new chief-of-staff.

‘At no stage have you acted in a way that’s even remotely classy, yet you believe that’s the standard by which everyone should behave towards you,’ wrote the prankster, pretending to be Mr Priebus.

‘General Kelly will do a fine job,’ he added. ‘I’ll even admit he will do a better job than me. But the way in which that transition has come about has been diabolical. And hurtful. I don’t expect a reply.’

But, according to CNN, he got a response anyway.

‘You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A Man would apologise,’ wrote the very real ‘Mooch’, say reports.

Mr Scaramucci didn’t explain what the former chief-of-staff did, although he has previously accused Mr Priebus of leaking information to the media.

‘I can’t believe you are questioning my ethics!’ shot back the joker. ‘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 email exchanges...

 

Scaramucci to fake Russia Ambassador Jon Huntsman

Imposter: “Who’s (sic) head should roll first?Maybe I can help things along somewhat.”

Scaramucci: “Both of them.”

Scaramucci: “Are you in Moscow now? If not please visit.”

Imposter: “Personally, I’d get rid of dumb and dumber, the Trump sons. Seeing them posing with various bits of animal they’ve shot is the biggest overcompensation for undeveloped testicles I’ve ever had the misfortune to see. If they fell into a barrel of tits, they’d still come out sucking each other’s thumb.”

Jon Huntsman and fake Eric Trump

Huntsman: “Thanks for the thoughtful note. Russia will be a challenging but no doubt rewarding assignment.”

Imposter: “Maybe we could have Dad sat (sic) on a horse, top off, giving the full Putin! He’s in better shape than his suits suggest.”

Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert and fake Jared Kushner

Imposter: “Tom, we are arranging a bit of a soiree towards the end of August. It would be great if you could make it, I promise food of at least comparible quality to that which we ate in Iraq!Should be a great evening”

Bossert: “Thanks, Jared. With a promise like that, I can’t refuse. Also, if you ever need it, here’s my personal email address. - Tom”

Fake Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump

The prankster, posing as Donald Trump Jr., sent a link to a hunting rifle to Eric under the subject line “just ordered one of these”.

Imposter: “Primarily for hunting. Hunting witch-hunters, ha!”

Eric Trump: “Did you send this?”

Imposter: “Yes why?”

Eric Trump: “Sorry it was so vague and I just don’t open links for obvious reasons. This came at a perfect time as we have the meeting tonight. I am fighting hard to stop this nonsense.” 

Imposter: “What’s the plan? And it’s a beast - you will love it. Try not to worry - things will turn around”

Eric Trump (catching on to the hoax): “I have sent this to law enforcement who will handle from here.”

Scaramucci and fake Reince Priebus

Prankster: “I had promised myself I would leave my hands mud free, but after reading your tweet today which stated how “soon we will learn who in the media has class, and who hasn’t, has pushed me to this.

“That tweet was breathtakingly hypocritical, even for you. At no stage have you acted in a way that’s even remotely classy yet you believe that’s the standard by which everyone should behave towards you?

“General Kelly will do a fine job. I’ll even admit he will do a better job than me. But the way in which that transition has come about has been diabolical. And hurtful. I don’t expect a reply.”

Scaramucci: “You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A Man would apologize.”

Prankster: “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 apologize for.”

Scaramucci: “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 Mooch’ clearly wasn’t amused, adding a cryptic threat involving Shakespeare’s classic tragedy about betrayal and deceit.

‘Read Shakespeare. Particularly Othello,’ wrote Mr Scaramucci, according to the screenshots. ‘You are right there. My family is fine by the way and will thrive. I know what you do.

‘No more replies from me,’ he finished, still apparently unaware that he was being duped.

A day earlier, the prankster claimed he pulled a similar stunt on Mr Scaramucci, this time posing as former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, Mr Trump’s pick as US Ambassador to Russia.

Referring to Mr Scaramucci’s feuding with Mr Priebus and White House adviser Steve Bannon, the online troll, posing as Mr Huntsman, asked: ‘Who’s head should roll first? Maybe I can help things along somewhat.’

Anthony Scaramucci was sacked after just 10 days in the job
AP

‘Both of them,’ came back the reply.

The joker also called Mr Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr. ‘dumb and dumber’ in another email to Mr Scaramucci.

With the White House bounding from one controversial distraction to another, Mr Trump was said to be furious about the breakdown in cyber security.

The prankster also seems to have posed as the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to get the private email address of a senior Homeland Security official.

'Tom, we are arranging a bit of a soirée towards the end of August,’ the fake Jared Kushner on an Outlook account wrote to the official White House email account of Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert. ‘It would be great if you could make it, I promise food of at least comparible (sic) quality to that which we ate in Iraq. Should be a great evening,’ he added.

Mr Bossert appears to have written back: ‘Thanks, Jared. With a promise like that, I can’t refuse. Also, if you ever need it, my personal email is *******.’

Mr Huntsman was himself also tricked, with the Briton pretending to be Eric Trump, the president’s son.

‘Thanks for the thoughtful note,’ Mr Huntsman wrote to the bogus Eric Trump. ‘Russia will be a challenging but no doubt rewarding assignment.’

The fake Eric Trump responded with this suggestion: ‘Maybe we could have Dad sat (sic) on a horse, top off, giving the full Putin! He’s in better shape than his suits suggest.’

Eric Trump, too, was similarly targetted by the trickster emailing as his older brother, Donald Trump Jr., and asking if he wanted to join him on a hunting trip.

He sent Eric Trump an email with the subject line ‘just ordered one of these’.

The email included a link to a hunting rifle. In the email’s body, the prankster wrote: ‘Primarily for hunting. Hunting witch-hunters, ha!’

But Eric soon got wise and replied: ‘I have sent this to law enforcement who will handle from here.’

In the past, the prankster - reportedly a 39-year-old web designer from Manchester - has hoodwinked Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott, Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, Michael Corbat of Citigroup and Barclays CEO Jes Staley with fake emails.

‘I try and keep it on the humorous side of things,’ the unnamed imposter told CNN. ‘I’m not trying to get the keys to the vault or anything like that.’

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