Three European mayors are said to have been targeted by an impersonator posing as the mayor of the Ukrainian capital in fake video calls.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has called for an investigation into the hoax, warning that his impostor could also contact other officials.
“Several mayors in Europe have been contacted by a fake mayor of Kyiv who has said ridiculous things,” he told the German daily. Bild.
“This is criminal energy. We must urgently investigate who is behind it.”
On Friday evening, the office of Berlin mayor Franziska Giffey tweeted that she had cut her call with the mayor of Kyiv short after his comments and questions raised suspicions, prompting a police investigation.
“The evolution of the conversation and the setting of the topics” made Giffey wary, and released a photo showing both the mayor and the Klitschko impersonator on the big screen, her office said.
Basically “there is no evidence that video conferencing is not conducted with real people. For all appearances, it is deeply fake,” the tweet said.
Elsewhere, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, the mayor of Madrid, also had a video call on Friday with someone claiming to be his Kyiv counterpart. He is said to have suspected he was not talking to Klitschko and had filed a complaint with the police.
But Vienna mayor Michael Ludwig, who also received a call from the impostor earlier this week, did not end the prank call because he did not notice any suspicious behavior, according to the Austrian broadcaster. ORF.
“Since there are no complicated topics discussed in the conversation, this is certainly annoying in specific cases but not a big deal,” Mr. Ludwig said.
At the moment, the motive of the calls and the means used to trick the mayor is unknown.
Vitali Klitschko warns European officials to be wary of calls
(EPA)
Ms Giffey said on Saturday that her encounter with the scammer meant that “in the future we will have to look more closely, even more suspiciously”. She called the tactic “a modern means of war”, referring to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, a link also made by the mayor of Kyiv.
“Friends! The enemy is not giving up and is waging war on all fronts – especially by disinformation, by discrediting Ukrainian politicians,” Klitschko said in a post. on Telegram
“To cause controversy with European partners, so that Ukraine is not helped.”
Talking to Bildhe warned other European officials to be careful in case they were contacted by someone claiming to represent his office.
“Please be careful in the future about how I arrange my appointments. Formal conversations only come through official channels,” he said.
