SAEDNEWS: The US State Department has alerted diplomats worldwide about efforts to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior figures through artificial intelligence, marking the latest escalation in AI-driven deception campaigns.
The warning followed the discovery that an individual posing as Rubio contacted at least three foreign ministers, a senator, and a governor.
According to a diplomatic cable sent on July 3 and shared with The Associated Press, the fraudulent messages were transmitted by text, Signal, and voicemail.
The names of the targeted officials were not disclosed.
“The State Department is aware of this incident and is currently monitoring and addressing the matter,” said department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.
She stated that the agency is committed to strengthening its cybersecurity measures to prevent similar breaches but declined further comment, citing security concerns and an active investigation.
Officials noted that the hoax was not sophisticated and ultimately unsuccessful.
Despite this, they emphasized that rising foreign efforts to compromise information security made it necessary to warn all personnel and international partners.
“There is no direct cyber threat to the department from this campaign, but information shared with a third party could be exposed if targeted individuals are compromised,” the cable warned.
This incident follows an earlier case in May when an impersonator targeted Susie Wiles, chief of staff to President Donald Trump, reportedly using contact information from her personal cellphone.
Some recipients of those calls heard a voice resembling Wiles, likely generated by AI.
The FBI has cautioned about the rapid spread of malicious schemes that exploit deepfake audio and text messages to impersonate government officials.
Earlier this year, a fabricated video appeared showing Rubio falsely claiming he would sever Ukraine’s access to Starlink internet services.
Ukrainian authorities later denied the statement.
Experts say the quality of AI-generated content has advanced significantly.
Siwei Lyu, a computer scientist at the University at Buffalo, observed a surge in deepfakes featuring politicians, celebrities, and executives.
A few years ago, such fakes were easier to detect due to robotic voices or visual errors.
Today, they are increasingly convincing.
“The level of realism and quality is increasing,” Lyu said.
“It’s an arms race, and right now the generators are getting the upper hand.”
The US government continues to investigate these impersonation attempts while considering solutions ranging from criminal penalties to better detection tools.
