Someone pretending to be US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has contacted several government officials using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to copy his voice and writing.
According to a State Department report shared with The Washington Post, the fake messages were sent to three foreign ministers, a US governor, and a member of Congress.
The messages came through regular texts and the encrypted app Signal. The impersonator used the name “[email protected]” on Signal, but this was not a real government account.
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The goal of the messages, according to US officials, was likely to trick recipients into sharing private information or granting access to their accounts.
This impersonation attempt started around mid-June. In at least two cases, the actor left voice messages using an AI-generated version of Rubio’s voice. One person also received a written message inviting them to continue the conversation on Signal.
When asked about the case, the State Department stated that it is conducting a thorough investigation and exploring ways to prevent similar activity. Officials did not reveal the content of the messages or the names of those contacted.
Additionally, the State Department memo told US diplomats to report any suspicious activity to their security team. Those outside the department are asked to contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center if they receive anything similar.
Recently, Meta’s content review board asked the company to remove a Facebook video featuring a fake version of Ronaldo Nazário promoting a game app. What did the board say? Read the full story.
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