FBI warns of malicious text, voice-messaging campaign impersonating senior U.S. officials

The FBI’s Internet Criminal Complaint Center May 15 released an alert warning of a malicious text and voice messaging campaign involving impersonators pretending to be senior U.S. officials. The individuals, active since April, have been targeting many current or former senior U.S. federal or state government officials and their contacts. The actors are using text and artificial intelligence-generated voice messages to establish a rapport before gaining access to personal accounts that could be used to target others, the FBI said.  

“Receiving a call from a ‘senior U.S. official’ is certainly something that would get attention, but as with any unsolicited communication, especially those providing links and soliciting information, carefully verify the source of the message,” said Scott Gee, AHA deputy national advisor for cybersecurity and risk. “If, for instance, you receive a suspicious message purporting to be from a senior official at a federal agency, independently look up the number from the internet and call to verify the legitimacy of the contact. Do not use any phone numbers or email addresses provided in the suspicious message. This ‘out of band’ verification is the best strategy for any phishing attempt. If that official is truly trying to contact you, someone in their office will know about it.” 

The FBI also advised individuals who receive a message claiming to be from a senior U.S. official to not assume the message is authentic. The agency provided recommendations to help identify suspicious messages. 

For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact Gee at sgee@aha.org. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit aha.org/cybersecurity.