Sir Richard Branson Targeted By 'Michael Fallon Conman'

Sir Richard Branson has revealed he was targeted by a con artist who pretended to be the Defence Secretary and asked him to pay $5 million (£3.8 million) to "free a British diplomat kidnapped by terrorists".

On his blog, the Virgin billionaire said that the story sounds "out of a John le Carré book or a James Bond film".

Branson said the attempted scam began when he received a letter requesting an urgent phone call with Fallon on what appeared to be official government notepaper.

He continued: "I called Sir Michael on the number given. He told me it was an incredibly sensitive matter and that he wanted to be sure there was nobody else in the room whilst I talked to him.

"He asked that we speak in strict confidence and said that a British diplomat had been kidnapped and was being held by terrorists.

"He told me that British laws prevented the government from paying out ransoms, which he normally completely concurred with.

"But he said on this occasion there was a particular, very sensitive, reason why they had to get this diplomat back. So they were extremely confidentially asking a syndicate of British businesspersons to step in.

"I was asked to contribute $5million dollars of the ransom money, which he assured me the British government would find a way of paying back."

Branson also said the impersonator told him he could verify that the request was not a scam by sending a senior staff member to Whitehall to speak with his secretary, who would use the codeword “Davenport”.

However, despite the caller sounding "exactly like Sir Michael”, the Virgin tycoon was "understandably cautious".

When he rang the Defence Secretary’s office, Fallon's secretary assured him that nobody had been kidnapped, nor did Sir Michael call him.

Branson passed details of the failed scam to the police and has shared the story as a warning to others:

"There has been a big rise in fake ad scams online recently, and I’d urge everyone to look out for them and report any you see.

"It’s not just online it can happen – it could be on the phone or even in person."

He was again targeted six months later with a separate “heist of enormous scale” that saw one of his business associates conned out of $2 million.

Branson has asked anyone with any information about the scam to speak to US criminal authorities or get in touch with Virgin.

Cover picture courtesy of William Murphy.