【Text/Observer Network Zhou Yibo】
On March 17, local time, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace wrote on social media about a fooled experience: a "Ukrainian prime minister" impersonator tried to talk to himself and asked several misleading questions, and he cut off the call after becoming suspicious.
According to Sky News, British Defense ministry sources revealed that the impersonator had a video call with Wallace for at least 10 minutes, at one point asking about Britain's foreign policy toward Ukraine. The video call was arranged by Defense Ministry officials, but it is unclear how the impersonator convinced officials that he was Ukraine's prime minister.
After the incident was revealed, British Home Secretary Pritty Patel also said that he had recently encountered a similar situation. At present, Wallace has ordered an immediate investigation into the security loopholes of the Ministry of Defense on the 17th.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace Source: Visual China
"Today, an imposter who calls himself 'Prime Minister of Ukraine' tried to talk to me." British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace tweeted on the 17th, "He raised several misleading questions, and I hung up the phone after I became suspicious." ”
Subsequently, Wallace did not forget to attack Russia, claiming that "no amount of disinformation, distortion of facts and dirty tricks in Russia can divert attention from Russia's human rights violations and illegal invasion of Ukraine."
Wallace, however, neither disclosed the specific process of his own deception nor any evidence of Russia's involvement in the incident.
On the contrary, many overseas netizens were surprised: How did the British defense minister communicate with a fake "Ukrainian prime minister"?
"I don't know why you disclosed this... How did the imposters contact our Secretary of Defense? ”
"I just don't understand why the Secretary of Defense would tweet like this... If this does happen, are you using a safety line? (If so, how did the imposters get in — I guess MI6 has found out?) If not, why not? You feel the need to emphasize this matter publicly is strange in itself. ”
According to Sky News, the videoconference was arranged for Wallace by the Ministry of Defense after receiving details of an interview from another government department, and it is unclear how the impersonator deceived Defense Ministry officials into thinking he was the real Prime Minister of Ukraine.
The report quoted anonymous sources from the British Ministry of Defence as saying that the impostor also "made some efforts" to disguise himself, not only placing the Ukrainian flag on the back of the video connection, but also forging details from the Ukrainian embassy.
At the time, the impersonator spoke for at least 10 minutes with Wallace, who was on a visit to Poland, asking questions related to Britain's foreign policy toward Ukraine.
However, because the impersonator's question was strange, Wallace soon became suspicious.
"Did you receive the materials we sent?" The impostor asked.
Wallace responded at the time, saying he didn't know what the other person was talking about.
The impersonator also mentioned names that Wallace had "never heard", but was then cut off.
The British Ministry of Defence has issued an appeal to Wallace to be vigilant in case impostors try to use any video footage to "deep fake" and thus undermine international solidarity over the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict.
In addition, after Wallace publicly disclosed the incident, British Home Secretary Pritty Patel also said that he had recently suffered a similar situation, saying that "it is really sad to try to divide us at such a difficult time".
At present, Wallace has ordered an immediate investigation into the security loopholes of the Ministry of Defense on the 17th.
According to public information, the current Ukrainian Prime Minister Dennis Shmigar took office on March 4, 2020, and previously served as Ukraine's Minister of Community and Territorial Development and Governor of Ivano-Frankivsk.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Dennis Shmigar Source: Visual China
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.