Members of the House of Lords are being targeted by criminals and foreign intelligence operatives who pretend to be foreign dignitaries or individuals connected to the royal household, the Lords Speaker has revealed.
Lord Forsyth issued a formal warning to peers, alerting them that sophisticated impersonation schemes had been deployed in an effort to extract information that could be weaponised against them.
In a letter seen by The Telegraph, he stated: “We have seen a recent increase in impersonation activity carried out by criminals and state actors targeting prominent figures, including members.
“This notice advises you to remain vigilant against potentially fraudulent communications. Threat actors are using messaging apps, emails or phone calls and may claim to be a trusted, recognised contact or a representative of a credible organisation.
Lord Forsyth issued a formal warning to peers, alerting them that sophisticated impersonation schemes had been deployed in an effort to extract information that could be weaponised against them
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PA
“Recently, we have seen approaches from people claiming to be foreign dignitaries or members of the royal household.”
The Speaker cautioned that artificial intelligence had significantly raised the stakes, with criminals now able to deploy cloned voices, doctored images and deepfake video calls, making fraudulent communications far more difficult to detect.
Lord Forsyth urged peers to treat “overtly flattering” messages and “persistent outreach without a clear purpose” as red flags warranting immediate suspicion.
The letter also highlighted “time-sensitive lures” as a common tactic, with fraudsters referencing ongoing geopolitical conflicts or pressing targets to arrange meetings at short notice.
Screen grab of the Chamber of Peers in the House of Lords, London
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HOUSE OF LORDS/UK PARLIAMENT/PA
Platforms such as WhatsApp and Signal were identified as increasingly popular channels for these attacks, with threat actors exploiting knowledge of peers’ contacts and interests to “craft credible approaches”.
Lord Forsyth warned: “They may claim to want to build new relationships, elicit private views, seek support for positions, or request contact details for others. Material obtained in this way can be modified and leaked or published online, to cause embarrassment and damage.”
The warning to peers follows a similar alert issued by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle in December, after intelligence services detected what was described as “Russian-based activity targeting commercial messaging platforms”.
According to the National Cyber Security Centre, the attackers had been masquerading as WhatsApp’s support team, requesting that users “enter an access code, click a link or scan a QR code”.
Had MPs engaged with these fraudulent messages, the Russian-linked operatives would have been able to infiltrate their accounts and read private correspondence.
It is understood that concerns existed at the time that certain MPs’ accounts had indeed been compromised.
Sir Lindsay advised: “Parliament advises against using commercial messaging platforms for parliamentary work, and advises that where possible, use Microsoft Teams for informal communications.”
MI5 last year issued an “espionage alert” to parliamentarians after uncovering two individuals posing as recruitment headhunters who had been attempting to forge connections with them via LinkedIn.
The profiles, operating under the names Amanda Qiu and Shirly Shen, were subsequently found to be fronts for China’s state security ministry, used to gain access to individuals within Parliament.
Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge has previously underscored the scale of the threat posed by hostile states, saying: “We can be under no illusion about the threat of Russia.
“I have said repeatedly that Putin’s aggression extends beyond Ukraine, with drone and jet incursions into Europe and a spy vessel attempting to blind RAF pilots.”