FBI has issued a warning on a sophisticated smishing and vishing campaign that targets contacts of high US officials by impersonating them using voice recordings created by artificial intelligence.
An increasing threat has been brought to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by malevolent actors impersonating senior US officials using artificial intelligence (AI). Current and former government officials, as well as anyone on their contact lists, are being targeted by these AI-generated voice memos and misleading text messages.
Since April 2025, these “malicious actors” have used methods such as “smishing” (using SMS or text messages) and “vishing” (using voice communications) to construct memoranda that seem like they are from high US officials, the FBI announced. The objective is to connect with the targeted people and earn their trust.The FBI explicitly stated, “If you receive a message claiming to be from a senior US official, do not assume it is authentic.”
Tactics Used to Gain Access
The FBI claims that after establishing contact, the criminals attempt to get access to their victims’ personal accounts. One technique is to include malicious links in these messages, which, if clicked by the victims, will transfer the discussion to a new, purportedly safer messaging app. In actuality, though, these links probably take users to fraudulent websites that are meant to install malware or steal login information.
One successful hack might result in several more, the FBI cautions, citing a possible cascade effect. The stolen data may be used to create plausible impersonations or initiate more social engineering assaults, and these “bad actors” can utilize hacked accounts to target other US officials or their associates.The FBI also cautioned that “contact information acquired through social engineering schemes could also be used to impersonate contacts to elicit information or funds.”
Growing Trend of AI-Powered Deception
According to the FBI’s release, the majority of the targets are “current or former senior US federal or state government officials and their contacts,” albeit they did not name the exact US officials being impersonated. This points to a broad campaign aimed at anyone who could have access to or knowledge of sensitive information.
The FBI expressed worries in December 2024 on the growing use of generative AI by criminals to carry out a variety of financial fraud schemes on a bigger scale. Realistic text, pictures, music, and video can be produced because to this technology, which makes it simpler to trick gullible people into donating money or falling for other frauds. Experts have also seen a notable increase in the use of voice cloning powered by AI. A CrowdStrike analysis claims that during the first and second half of 2024, there was a sharp rise of 442% in the weaponization of this technology.
FBI’s most recent warning now emphasizes the ongoing increase in advanced AI technologies being used as weapons for social engineering assaults, which puts prominent people and maybe national security at serious danger. When receiving unsolicited messages, especially those purporting to be from top authorities, the agency advises being cautious.
Max Gannon, Intelligence Manager at Cofense commented on the latest announcement stating, “While the IC3 alert does say ‘malicious actors typically use software to generate phone numbers that are not attributed to a specific mobile phone or subscriber,’ it is important to note that threat actors can also spoof known phone numbers of trusted organizations or people, adding an extra layer of deception to the attack.“
“Additionally, phone filtering does not typically detect when the number is being spoofed, giving a false sense of security to users who rely on their phones to tell them when something is a scam call,” Max explained.
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