UPDATED 01:21 EST / AUGUST 01 2017

INFRA

Email prankster tricks White House officials into replying

A British prankster is reported to have conned several White House staffers, including ex-communications director Anthony Scaramucci, into replying to his emails after posing as several high-ranking individuals in the Trump administration.

The unnamed prankster, who uses the Twitter handle @SINON_REBOR, sent one email to Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert, purportedly from President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner. In the email, he invited Bossert to a “soirée towards the end of August.” Bossert promptly accepted the offer, also sending the prankster his personal email address.

Even more amusing was the exchange involving Scaramucci (pictured), who only lost his job on Monday. The prankster posed as Reince Priebus, the former Trump administration chief of staff who was in pitched conflict with Scaramucci, sending a series of accusatory emails saying that he was “breathtakingly hypocritical” and that “at no stage have you acted in a way that is remotely classy.”

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

In response, the fake Preibus replied that: “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 then retorted: “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 prankster, who calls himself a “lazy anarchist” on his Twitter profile, later told CNBC that he was only trying to be “humorous” rather than malicious. “I’m not trying to get the keys to the vault or anything like that,” he said.

CNBC added that the prankster also conned Scaramucci into believing that he was former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman. He also tricked Huntsman himself into believing he was President Trump’s son Eric, and in turn he apparently convinced Eric that he was his brother Donald Jr.

In a statement, White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that an investigation into the security breach was underway. “We take all cyber related issues very seriously and are looking into these incidents further,” she said.

Image: Wikipedia

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