The private phone numbers of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., have been made public on a US-based website, prompting a federal investigation. The website, belonging to a data intelligence company, also listed numbers of opposition leader Sussan Ley, former prime minister Scott Morrison, and former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop.
Albanese’s office confirmed it was aware of the situation, while Ley’s staff said they had requested removal of the information. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles stated the government had notified authorities and was working through the breach, which was first reported by independent media outlet Ette Media on Tuesday.
The website claims to use AI to scrape contact details from social media, job portals, and other platforms, offering limited free searches and paid subscriptions for wider access. However, some numbers are wrongly attributed, such as that of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. LinkedIn, a potential source, said there was no indication of a data breach on its platform and that such scraping is prohibited.
Ley’s spokesperson said they were alerted by local media and have contacted LinkedIn for clarification. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, whose number was also listed, joked that no one had prank-called him yet but expressed concern. This incident follows a 2017 leak of hundreds of Australian politicians’ numbers on the Parliament House website.
