Hoax call put through to British prime minister

[LONDON] A hoax caller pretending to be a spy chief was put through to British Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday, prompting a review of security procedures, a government spokeswoman said.

The caller pretended to be the director of Britain's electronic spy agency GCHQ Robert Hannigan, and was put through to Cameron on an official mobile phone, the spokeswoman said.

The "brief" conversation ended once it was revealed to be a hoax and no sensitive information was disclosed, she added.

It followed a previous hoax call to GCHQ on Sunday, in which Hannigan's mobile phone number was given to the caller.

"Following two hoax calls to government departments today, a notice has gone out to all departments to be on the alert for such calls," the spokeswoman said.

"A hoax caller claiming to be the GCHQ director was connected to the prime minister. The prime minister ended the call when it became clear it was a hoax.

"Both GCHQ and Number 10 take security seriously and both are currently reviewing procedures following these hoax calls to ensure that the government learns any lessons from this incident."

AFP