Man arrested in connection with Westminster ‘honeytrap’ scandal

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A man has been arrested in connection with the “honeytrap” scandal which rocked Westminster, the Metropolitan Police has confirmed.

Multiple victims have been informed by the force that a man has been arrested in London on suspicion of offences under the Online Safety Act and harassment.

The man was arrested in Islington on Wednesday morning and taken into custody where he remains, the Met said.

The Met in April launched an investigation after “unsolicited messages” were sent to a number of MPs, staffers and political journalists working in Westminster.

It came after Politico reported that political figures had received the unsolicited messages from someone using two unfamiliar numbers calling themselves “Abi” or “Charlie”.

The messages would include details of the MPs and staffers’ careers and campaigns they had worked on to build rapport with victims. They would then descend into sexually explicit messaging, with “Abi” or “Charlie” sending graphic images to victims and asking for nude photographs in return.

It is understood that two of the individuals targeted responded by sending an explicit image of themselves, with the attack described as an attempt at spear phishing. Spear phishing involves scammers pretending to be trusted senders in order to steal personal or sensitive information.

High profile former MP William Wragg was suspended by the Conservatives over his own role in the scandal.

He admitted sharing the phone numbers of colleagues with the scammer after having shared explicit images of himself when they began talking on a dating app.

Mr Wragg told the Times he was “scared” because the man had compromising information on him.

Other senior figures targeted by the honeytrapper included Conservative MP Dr Luke Evans, who said he had received unsolicited explicit images and messages over WhatsApp. It is believed that at least 12 men in political circles received the unsolicited messages.

In a statement, the Met said: “Police executed a warrant at an address in Islington.

“A man was arrested on suspicion of harassment and committing offences under the Online Safety Act. He was taken into custody where he remains.

“The arrest relates to an investigation being carried out by the Met’s Parliamentary Liaison and Investigation Team following reports of unsolicited messages sent to MPs and others.

“The investigation remains ongoing.” The investigation has seen officers interview all those who received messages from the scammer, which included Labour and Conservative MPs.