Overview
- An unknown actor used AI to clone Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s voice and writing style and contacted at least five officials, including three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor and a congressman.
- The fraudster created a fake Signal account under the username “[email protected]” in mid-June, sending voice messages and texts to solicit sensitive information or account access.
- A confidential cable dated July 3 directed diplomatic posts to alert external partners and report impersonation attempts to the Office of Diplomatic Security and the FBI’s Internet Crimes Complaint Center.
- Officials believe the scheme aimed to manipulate targets into revealing classified details or credentials, but the impostor’s identity remains unknown.
- The State Department has launched a comprehensive investigation, hardened messaging authentication protocols and urged personnel to verify identities before sharing information.