The U.S. State Department said it was investigating an impostor who used artificial intelligence to imitate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and contacted three foreign ministers.
According to a State Department cable obtained by BBC’s U.S. partner CBS News, the alleged “unknown actor” allegedly used Rubio’s artificial voice to contact officials through a signal messaging application.
The cable noted that the person contacted at least five people, including the Foreign Secretary, the U.S. governor and members of Congress.
The State Department said it is aware of the incident and is taking steps to improve its cybersecurity defense capabilities.
The incident was initially revealed on a July 3 State Department cable and was sent to “all diplomatic and consular posts,” according to CBS News.
The cable noted that a wrong signal account was created in mid-June and the display name marco.rubio@state.gov was displayed. The account is connected to at least five people.
“The actor left the signal of at least two targeted individuals on the signal and in one case sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on the signal,” CBS noted.
The cable does not identify the individuals who have been contacted or the voice Rubio said in these voicemails.
“The activity has no direct cyber threat to the department, but if targeted individuals are compromised, the information shared with third parties may be exposed,” the cable said.
The State Council said in a statement that it is investigating the matter. It added that it “continuously takes steps to improve the department’s cybersecurity posture to prevent future events.”
The incident was first reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday. The newspaper reported that U.S. authorities don’t know who was behind the imitation, but they believe the person’s goal is to manipulate powerful government officials to obtain information.
The Associated Press reported that a U.S. official who spoke anonymously said the scam was unsuccessful and was “not very complicated.”
Secretary of State Rubio did not comment on the incident.
AI technology has been used to imitate American politicians in the past.
last year, Forged Robocall claims to be former President Joe Biden Voters are urged to skip the New Hampshire primary before the 2024 U.S. election.
New Hampshire officials said at the time that the calls “seemed to be illegal attempts to undermine the election” and they are investigating the matter.
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