Fake email sends Pakistan PMO into a tizzy

A fake email sent the Pakistani prime minister's media office into a spin, prompting one official to wonder why the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was using a private gmail id.

"It contained no text, just the title 'Prime Minister's Message on Defence Day'," Shafqat Jalil, PMO spokesperson, told Dawn about the email message.

"We detected the fake email and immediately informed the media as per the standard operating procedure that Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has not issued any message relating to Defence Day," he said.

Pakistan observes Defence Day Sep 6. The sender created a fake identity, pmmediaofficer@gmail.com, by adding 'r' to the official email address. PMO issued a press release to warn the media organisations about it.

"You are requested to ignore the Prime Minister' message on Defence Day circulated on the fake ID pmmediaofficer@gmail.com.

"It has not been issued by this office. Our official email IDs are: pmmediaoffice@gmail.com, pmcampoffice@gmail.com and pmmediaoffice3@gmail.com," said the press release.

An official wondered: "Why the Prime Minister's office is using email accounts on the private web gmail."

"It amounts to a big information security breach as anyone can hack such email addresses of the prime minister," he was quoted as saying.