Susie Wiles’ Phone Is Hacked; Impersonated By AI

This post was originally published on this site

The feds are investigating how an unknown person impersonated White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, after they reached out to prominent Republicans and business executives pretending to be her. Via the Wall Street Journal:

In recent weeks, senators, governors, top U.S. business executives and other well-known figures have received text messages and phone calls from a person who claimed to be the chief of staff, the people familiar with the messages said.

But the messages weren’t from Wiles—and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the White House are trying to figure out who is behind the effort and what the goal is, according to some of the people. FBI officials have told the White House they don’t believe a foreign nation is involved, some of the people said.

“The White House takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated,” a White House spokeswoman said.

“The FBI takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. “Safeguarding our administration officials’ ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president’s mission is a top priority.”

Then why do so many cabinet officials still use their unsecured personal cell phones for official business, Kash?

Wiles has told associates that her cellphone contacts were hacked, according to some of the people, giving the impersonator access to the private phone numbers of some of the country’s most influential people. The phone in question is her personal cellphone, not her government one, the people said.

Some of the calls featured a voice that sounded like Wiles, people who heard them said. Government officials think the impersonator used artificial intelligence to imitate Wiles’s voice, some of the people said.

And then came the part where they asked the recipient to send money! HAHAHAHA!