FBI Warns of Increase in AI-Generated Impersonations of Senior U.S. Officials
By Linn F. Freedman , Robinson & Cole LLP
On December 19, 2025, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published an Alert warning the public that it has data from as far back as 2023 that “malicious actors have impersonated senior U.S. state government, White House, and Cabinet level officials, as well as members of Congress to target individuals, including officials’ family members and personal acquaintances.”
The malicious actors send AI-generated voice messages in vishing campaigns and AI-generated text messages in smishing campaigns that impersonate officials that establish communication with the victim on an encrypted messaging application to:
Discuss current events;
Ask about U.S. policy;
Propose a meeting with high-ranking officials;
Request copies of personal documents;
Request a wire transfer to an overseas financial institution;
Note appointment of the victim to a company’s board of directors;
Request an authentication code that allows the threat actor to sync their device with the victim’s contact list; and
Request the victim introduce the threat actor to a known associate.
The threat actor starts the communication with a text message and then asks the victim to move to an encrypted platform such as Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp.
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