A disturbing new scam…
Someone posing as Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been contacting U.S. officials using AI-generated voice and text.
The Washington Post’s John Hudson and Hannah Natanson reported this week, citing a State Department cable and a “senior U.S. official,” that the imposter Rubio contacted foreign ministers, a governor, and a member of Congress. The cable from Rubio’s office reportedly theorizes that the imposter is trying to gain “access to information or accounts.”
The impersonation campaign began in mid-June when the impostor created a Signal account using the display name “[email protected]” to contact unsuspecting foreign and domestic diplomats and politicians, said the cable. The display name is not his real email address.
“The actor left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals and in one instance, sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on Signal,” said the cable. It also noted that other State Department personnel were impersonated using email.
When asked about the cable, the State Department responded that it would “carry out a thorough investigation and continue to implement safeguards to prevent this from happening in the future.” Officials declined to discuss the contents of the messages or the names of the diplomats and officials who were targeted.
This is not the first time someone has tried posing as a high-level official. President Donald Trump said in May that an imposter posed as White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles in calls to other officials.
“I’ve heard they breached her phone and tried to impersonate her,” the president said at the time. “Nobody can impersonate Susie. There’s only one Susie.”
Signal was at the center of recent controversy with Mike Waltz leaving his post as White House National Security advisor after a reporter was accidentally invited into a group discussing attack plans. Waltz was then nominated to be the ambassador of the United Nations, while Rubio was appointed interim National Security advisor.
In May, the FBI issued a warning that “malicious actors” were impersonating senior U.S. officials in an “ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign” intended to target other senior government leaders and their contacts. The campaign relied on AI-generated voice messages, according to the FBI, and was likely meant to “elicit information or funds.”
“If you receive a message claiming to be from a senior U.S. official,” the FBI warned at the time, “do not assume it is authentic.”
