Washington, DC, July 9, 2025 – The U.S. State Department is investigating a series of attempts by an unknown individual using artificial intelligence (AI) to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The impostor contacted at least five high-level officials, including three foreign ministers, a U.S. senator, and a U.S. governor, through text messages, voicemails, and the Signal messaging app, according to a diplomatic cable dated July 3, 2025, first reported by The Washington Post.

The impersonator created a Signal account in mid-June with the display name “Marco.Rubio@state.gov,” which is not Rubio’s actual email address, and used AI-generated voice and text messages mimicking Rubio’s voice and writing style. The cable suggests the perpetrator aimed to manipulate targets to gain access to sensitive information or accounts. While the attempts were described as “not very sophisticated” and unsuccessful, the State Department deemed it “prudent” to alert all employees and foreign governments due to rising concerns about AI-driven deception.

This incident follows a similar May 2025 case where an impostor breached the phone of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, using AI to contact senators, governors, and business executives. The FBI has warned of a broader “malicious” campaign involving AI-generated voice and text messages targeting government officials and their associates. The Rubio scam is also not his first encounter with deepfakes; earlier this year, a fabricated video falsely depicted him advocating to cut Ukraine’s access to Starlink internet, a claim later debunked by Ukraine’s government.

Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at UC Berkeley, noted that such impersonations require only 15–20 seconds of audio to create convincing AI-generated voices, a process made easy by widely available software. The State Department cable highlighted a related April 2025 campaign, attributed to Russia-linked hackers (APT29), targeting think tanks and critics of Russia with spear-phishing attempts.

The State Department is enhancing its cybersecurity measures, and the FBI advises reporting impersonation attempts to its Internet Crime Complaint Center. Experts like Siwei Lyu from the University at Buffalo warn that AI deception is becoming more realistic, urging stronger defenses like criminal penalties and improved media literacy. For further details, refer to The Washington Post or state.gov.