An imposter used an artificially generated voice to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio in contacts with three foreign ministers and two US politicians, according to a cable seen by Reuters yesterday.
In mid-June, the person contacted the ministers, a US governor and a member of Congress via the Signal messaging app, it said. Voicemails were left in two instances and a text message in a third instance invited the targeted person to communicate on Signal, the cable said.
“The actor likely aimed to manipulate targeted individuals using AI-generated text and voice messages, with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts,” the cable said. The Washington Post first reported the campaign. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The State Department cable, dated July 3, was sent to all diplomatic and consular posts and suggests that staff warn external partners about fake accounts and impersonations. The cable referred to a second effort in April that was
attributed to a Russia-linked hacker who conducted a spear phishing campaign.
&uuid=(email))