The unidentified fraudster, using artificial intelligence tools, impersonated US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and contacted at least five senior officials. About this informs The Washington Post.
The US State Department has warned diplomats about attempts to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and potentially other officials using AI-based technology. The impostor contacted five people, including three foreign ministers, a US state governor and a member of the US Congress.
Communication used the encrypted Signal messenger and text messages that mimicked Rubio’s voice and writing style. As the publication notes with reference to an official telegram of the State Department and a high-ranking source, the incident made an extremely convincing impression.
The impersonation campaign began in mid-June when a fraudster registered a Signal account with the display name “Marco.Rubio@state.gov](mailto:Marco.Rubio@state.gov),” which was unrelated to the official email address. The telegram indicates that the impostor left voice messages and sent text appeals, urging the addressees to continue the dialogue in this particular messenger.
Attempts to impersonate other employees of the State Department via e-mail have also been recorded. The incident was confirmed by the State Department, which announced that appropriate measures had been taken.
“The State Department is aware of this incident and is currently monitoring and resolving the situation. For security reasons, we are unable to provide further details at this time.” spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
The incident occurred against the background of other similar cases involving high-ranking US officials. In May, it was reported that an unknown person had accessed the phone of White House senior adviser Susie Wiles and was contacting senators, governors and businessmen impersonating Wiles. This led to an investigation by the White House and the FBI.
