The State Department is investigating an imposter pretending to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio who has contacted foreign ministers and other U.S. officials.
The impersonation campaign began in mid-June when the individual or individuals responsible created a Signal account with the display name “[email protected],” according to the Washington Post.
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Using Signal and text messages, the imposter contacted three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a member of Congress, according to a State Department cable dated July 3.
The cable said the culprit is likely attempting to manipulate world leaders “with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts,” noting that “the actor left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals and in one instance, sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on Signal.”
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce largely declined to comment on the developing story during her Tuesday press briefing. She wouldn’t say whether the threat of impersonations is ongoing, and it’s unclear who the imposter reached out to and what information he or she was seeking.
“The State Department is aware of this incident and is currently investigating the matter,” a senior State Department official told the Washington Examiner.
“The department takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard its information and continuously takes steps to improve the department’s cybersecurity posture to prevent future incidents,” the official continued. “For security reasons, and due to our ongoing investigation, we are not in a position to offer further details at this time.”
It’s not the first cybersecurity incident to occur during the Trump administration.
In May, President Donald Trump revealed that an impersonator breached the phone of his chief of staff, Susie Wiles.
“I’ve heard they breached her phone and tried to impersonate her,” he said. “Nobody can impersonate Susie. There’s only one Susie.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said at the time, “Safeguarding our administration officials’ ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president’s mission is a top priority.”
The FBI warned about two weeks earlier in a public service announcement to be aware of an “ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign” that began in April.
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In March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared details of impending military operations against the Houthis in Yemen in two Signal group chats. The Atlantic published the contents of one of those group chats because the media group’s editor-in-chief was unintentionally added to the group chat by then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The chat featured more than a dozen Cabinet officials, including Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.