Ukrainian Ambassador to U.S. targeted by pranksters

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova has reported receiving numerous messages from pranksters and malicious actors pretending to be U.S. government officials.

Markarova shared this in a post on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

According to the ambassador, over the past few days, her phone has been bombarded with fake messages. The perpetrators impersonate U.S. officials and either request direct contacts of Ukrainian government representatives or demand an urgent conversation. The attackers often claim to be communicating from a secure phone line.

“Of course, we are in constant contact with all our partners and use only verified communication channels. As a result, all such attempts were immediately identified and reported to law enforcement agencies,” the ambassador stated.

Markarova explained that she decided to publicize the incidents due to the surge in such attempts and the high quality of the execution by the pranksters.

She urged colleagues to remain vigilant and carefully verify contacts from unknown phone numbers, emails, or messaging platforms.

As Ukrinform previously reported, in June, former UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron fell victim to a prankster posing as Ukraine's former President Petro Poroshenko.