Tory MP Luke Evans says he was victim of ‘cyber flashing and malicious communications’
A Conservative MP has said he was targeted in the parliamentary honeytrap sexting scam and was the politician that first alerted police and Commons authorities.
Dr Luke Evans, the MP for Bosworth, in Leicestershire, said he was approached in March by two different numbers on WhatsApp “who purported to know me”.
In a video message on Facebook, he said was the victim of cyber flashing and malicious communications “and blew the whistle by reporting it to the police and the parliamentary authorities as soon as this happened”.
Mr Evans said: “The first set of messages I got was on a day I was with my wife and I got a one-time open photo on WhatsApp of an explicit image of a naked lady. As soon as I got these the next day I reported it to the police, the authorities and the chief whip.
“Ten days later I got another set of messages, this time however, I was sat with my team in the constituency office, so we were able to record the conversation and catch photos and videos of the messages coming through including another explicit female image.”
Mr Evans said he “wanted it to be private” due to the ongoing police investigation, but decided to come forward due to the media attention surrounding the sexting scam.
He added: “I’m just pleased I blew the whistle, reported it to the authorities and it’s now being looked into.”
Leicestershire Police confirmed on Thursday it was investigating a report of malicious communications after a number of unsolicited messages were sent to a Leicestershire MP last month.
Shortly after Mr Evans’s statement, the Metropolitan Police confirmed it was also investigating unsolicited explicit images and messages sent to MPs.
A statement from the force said: “Officers from the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command are carrying out an investigation following reports that a number of unsolicited messages were sent to MPs over recent months.
“We are working closely with other forces and are in contact with colleagues in Parliamentary Security, who are providing support and advice around anyone affected.”
It follows reports this week that a serving minister, some MPs, party staffers and political journalists were among those who received unsolicited messages from two unknown WhatsApp users.
Last night, Tory MP William Wragg admitted to The Times that he shared the personal phone numbers of some of his colleagues to a man he met on gay dating app Grindr.
William Wragg. Pic: PA
Mr Wragg apologised for the “hurt” he caused and said he was “manipulated” by the person after he sent intimate pictures of himself.
“They had compromising things on me. They wouldn’t leave me alone. They would ask for people,” he told the newspaper.
“I gave them some numbers, not all of them. I told him to stop. He’s manipulated me and now I’ve hurt other people.”
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William Wragg ‘has come forward in a very dignified way’
Sky News understands Mr Wragg will not lose the party whip over the matter, meaning he can remain in the Conservative parliamentary party.
Many MPs have been sympathetic to Mr Wragg’s situation, with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt praising his “courageous and fulsome” apology.
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The scam has been described as “spear phishing”, a type of cyber attack that targets specific groups in order to steal personal or sensitive information.
Security experts have speculated that a hostile state could be behind the scam.
Richard Dearlove, a former chief of MI6, told Sky News: “Any MP is massively of interest to a hostile foreign intelligence service.
“Not necessarily for the collection of secrets, but for providing insights into the behavioural vulnerabilities of colleagues.”
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PayPal says the US Securities and Exchange Commission has abandoned its investigation into the payment giant’s US-dollar stablecoin.
PayPal said in an April 29 regulatory filing that the SEC concluded its investigation into PayPal USD (PYUSD) and wouldn’t be taking any action.
The company said it received a subpoena from the SEC’s Division of Enforcement over its stablecoin in November 2023.
“The subpoena requests the production of documents. We are cooperating with the SEC in connection with this request,” PayPal stated at the time.
In its latest filing, the firm said the SEC notified it in February that the agency “was closing this inquiry without enforcement action.”
PayPal has said its stablecoin is 100% redeemable for US dollars and “fully backed” by dollar deposits, including short-term treasuries and cash equivalents.
However, the stablecoin has struggled to gain momentum in a crowded market dominated by rivals Tether and Circle. PYUSD has a market capitalization of just $880 million, less than 1% of Tether’s (USDT) $148.5 billion.
PayPal’s stablecoin has seen better growth this year with a 75% increase in PYUSD circulating supply since the beginning of 2025, according to CoinGecko. It remains down 14% from its peak supply of just over $1 billion in August 2024.
Earnings on PYUSD, Coinbase partnership
That growth could be bolstered by a company announcement on April 23 introducing rewards for PYUSD in a new loyalty offering that will enable US users to earn 3.7% annually for holding the asset on the platform.
Meanwhile, on April 24, PayPal announced a partnership with Coinbase to increase the adoption of PYUSD.
“We are excited to drive new, exciting, and innovative use cases together with Coinbase and the entire cryptocurrency community, putting PYUSD at the center,” said Alex Chriss, PayPal President and CEO.
Related: PayPal to offer 3.7% yield on stablecoin balances: Report
The payments giant also reported robust first-quarter earnings and the completion of significant share repurchase activities.
The firm beat Wall Street estimates, earning $1.33 per share in the first quarter, topping analyst expectations of $1.16. Revenue rose 1% from a year before to $7.8 billion.
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Asset manager BlackRock has filed to create digital ledger technology shares from one of the firm’s money market funds, which will leverage blockchain technology to maintain a mirror record of share ownership for investors.
The DLT shares will track BlackRock’s BLF Treasury Trust Fund (TTTXX), which may only be purchased from BlackRock Advisors and The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), the firm said in its April 29 Form N-1A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The money market fund holds over $150 million worth of assets, invested almost entirely in US Treasury bills and cash.
BlackRock said that the shares “are expected to be purchased and held through BNY, which intends to use blockchain technology to maintain a mirror record of share ownership for its customers.”
Unlike the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), DLT shares won’t be tokenized but will instead be used as a transparency tool to verify ownership.
BlackRock will continue to maintain traditional book-entry records as the official ownership ledger.
BlackRock didn’t propose a ticker or set a management fee for the DLT shares in its filing.
A minimum initial investment of $3 million worth of DLT is required for institutions seeking to purchase the digital shares.
BlackRock follows Fidelity’s March 21 filing to list an Ethereum-based OnChain share class, which seeks to track the Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund (FYHXX) — an $80 million fund consisting almost entirely of US Treasury bills.
While the OnChain share class filing is pending regulatory approval, Fidelity expects it to take effect on May 30.
Wall Street heavyweights continue to explore blockchain use cases
Asset managers have increasingly turned to blockchain to tokenize Treasury bills, bonds and private credit over the past few years.
Related: BlackRock Bitcoin ETF buys $970M in BTC as inflows surge, boost market
The treasury tokenization market is currently valued at $6.16 billion, led by BlackRock’s BUIDL at $2.55 billion, while the Franklin Templeton-issued Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (BENJI) secures over $700 million worth of real-world assets, according to rwa.xyz.
Ethereum remains the chain of choice for tokenizing treasury assets, and currently houses over $4.55 billion worth, while the Stellar network and Solana round out the top three at $474.9 million and $274.5 million, respectively.
The potential of RWA tokenization has also been championed by BlackRock’s CEO, Larry Fink, who believes the technology could revolutionize investing.
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