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WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department is warning US diplomats about attempts to use technology based on artificial intelligence to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and perhaps other officials, according to two senior officials and Cable, according to two senior officials and Cable, who have been sent to all embassies and consulates.
The warning comes after a scammer pretending to be Rubio discovered he tried to reach out to at least three foreign ministers, the US senator and the governor, according to Cable on July 3, originally reported by the Washington Post.
Recipients of fraudulent messages sent via text, signal or voicemail were not identified by cable, and copies of them were shared with the Associated Press.
One authorities said the hoax had failed and “not very refined.” Nevertheless, the second officer said he deemed it “wise” to advise all employees and foreign governments, particularly as an effort by foreign actors to compromise on increasing information security.
Officials were not permitted to discuss the issue publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“There is no direct cyber threat from this campaign to the department, but if targeted individuals compromise, information shared with third parties could be made public,” Cable said.
The FBI warned in the announcement of public services for its “Malicious Text and Voice Messaging Campaign” this spring.
According to the FBI, the scheme relies on text messages and AI that claims to come from senior US officials and is intended to trick contacts with other government officials and fellow victims.
It was the second high-level Trump administration officials who faced such AI-driven impersonation.
The government was investigating after elected officials, executives and other prominent figures received messages from someone who pretended to be President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff, Susie Wills. The Wall Street Journal reported in May, The Wall Street Journal received text messages and calls from people believed to have accessed Wiles’ personal mobile contacts.
According to the newspaper, some of the people who received the call heard a voice that sounded like Wills, which may have been generated by artificial intelligence. The messages and calls were not from Wills’ numbers, the report said.
Associated writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
