British Foreign Secretary David Cameron was duped into believing he was communicating with former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, according to a statement from the foreign office on Friday.
The interactions, including a video call, were later confirmed to be a hoax.
“Whilst the video call clearly appeared to be with Mr Poroshenko, following the conversation the Foreign Secretary became suspicious,” the foreign office said.
“The department has now investigated and confirmed that it was not genuine and that the messages and video call were a hoax.”
Details of the discussion were not provided, but it was mentioned that the caller asked Cameron for contact information of others.
The foreign office made the hoax public to prevent potential manipulation of the video and to alert others of the risk.
“Whilst regretting his mistake, the Foreign Secretary thinks it important to call out this behaviour and increase efforts to counter the use of misinformation,” the statement added.
With a national election scheduled for July 4, Britain has not identified who might be responsible for the prank. This incident is not the first of its kind involving a British foreign minister.
In 2018, then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was fooled by a caller pretending to be the Armenian prime minister, discussing international relations and inappropriate poetry.
In 2022, Britain accused Russia of orchestrating hoax calls to two ministers and attempting to contact a third.
Videos of a call to then-defence minister Ben Wallace were later posted online, leading Britain to claim they were altered and to request their removal from YouTube.
Cameron’s experience highlights the ongoing challenges of misinformation and the importance of vigilance in communication.
The foreign office emphasized the need for awareness and countermeasures to combat such deceptive practices.