Australian ministers targeted in Telegram phishing scam aimed at revealing details of Hong Kong activists
- The health and finance ministers this week said their mobile phones had been hacked via the Telegram messaging app
- The phishing scam was aimed at revealing contact details of anti-government activists in Hong Kong, reports say
Health Minister Greg Hunt’s office said in an emailed statement on Thursday that “a cybersecurity attempt to impersonate the minister has been referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and investigations are under way”.
That follows Monday’s statement by Finance Minister Simon Birmingham that he had been targeted.
The Australian newspaper reported late on Wednesday that the details of anti-government Hongkongers were provided to someone impersonating Birmingham, with one of the recipients being asked: “Do you have any contacts in Hong Kong?”
The person handed over details of Hongkongers without realising they were speaking to a cyber-hacker, the paper said, citing the person who it did not identify.
Birmingham on Tuesday told a parliamentary hearing that the hacker had gained access to contacts in his government phone who had the Telegram app. He said there was also another request from the person pretending to be the minister asking for money to be transferred to a bank account outside Australia.
“The AFP are seeking to, through their data security processes, attempting to ascertain how any data was secured and are working to try to get Telegram to shut down the false account,” Birmingham said, according to a transcript sent from his office.
