Incident 1077: FBI Reports Ongoing Vishing and Smishing Campaign Allegedly Targeting Government Officials Using Purportedly AI-Generated Voices

Description: According to a May 15, 2025 public alert from the FBI and IC3, malicious actors have been using purported AI-generated voice messages and smishing tactics since April 2025 to impersonate senior U.S. officials. The campaign reportedly targets government personnel and their contacts to gain access to personal or official accounts. The FBI warns the scheme may involve credential theft and social engineering, with AI voice cloning used to increase believability.
Editor Notes: See also Incident 1084: Phone of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles Allegedly Breached in Reported AI Voice Impersonation Incident. It is a specific variant of this incident ID.

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Incident Stats

Incident ID
1077
Report Count
3
Incident Date
2025-05-15
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Alert Number: I-051525-PSA May 15, 2025 Senior US Officials Impersonated in Malicious Messaging Campaign
ic3.gov · 2025

FBI is issuing this announcement to warn and provide mitigation tips to the public about an ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign. Since April 2025, malicious actors have impersonated senior US officials to target individuals,…

FBI warns of fake texts, deepfake calls impersonating senior U.S. officials
cyberscoop.com · 2025

The FBI said Thursday that malicious actors have been impersonating senior U.S. government officials in a text and voice messaging campaign, using phishing texts and AI-generated audio to trick other government officials into giving up acce…

Impersonator breached Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’s phone, Trump says
washingtonpost.com · 2025

An impersonator breached the phone of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump said Friday, and pretended to be her in calls and messages received by her high-profile contacts.

Trump did not go into detail about the im…

Variants

A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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