POLITICO previously reported how a serving minister plus multiple MPs, party staffers and political journalists were among those who received unsolicited messages from two suspicious mobile numbers sent by users calling themselves “Abi” or “Charlie.”
Some senior Tory MPs have speculated a hostile state power is behind the campaign, though experts suggested it may be more likely the work of a criminal gang seeking compromising material.
After receiving the complaint from the MP, a Leicestershire Police spokesperson said in a statement: “Leicestershire Police is investigating a report of malicious communications after a number of unsolicited messages were sent to a Leicestershire MP last month. They were reported to police on Tuesday 19 March. Enquiries are currently ongoing.”
The messages received by victims generally followed a pattern: the sender claimed they already knew their target and that the pair had flirted at a specific political event or in a Westminster bar. They then professed embarrassment at not being remembered and, in several cases, sending an unsolicited explicit photo.
The 12 targets confirmed by POLITICO so far include three MPs, including a serving minister in the U.K. government; two political journalists; a broadcaster; four party staffers; a former Tory MP; and an All-Party Parliamentary Group manager. The targets span both the ruling Conservative and opposition Labour parties.
The Parliamentary Security Department is working with “partners in government” to “analyse and understand the nature of these messages and any related security risk,” House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle told MPs and staff on Thursday night.