The White House and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are looking into a reported attempt at impersonating White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
People familiar with the message told the outlet that an unknown individual sent text messages and made phone calls to multiple notable Republicans and business executives while pretending to be President Trump’s chief of staff in recent weeks.
“The White House takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated,” a White House official said.
Sources told the Journal that the FBI and the White House are investigating who is behind the calls and their goal. U.S. intelligence agencies have looked into the situation, the outlet noted.
“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 to the Journal. “Safeguarding our administration officials’ ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president’s mission is a top priority.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
Wiles reportedly told associates that her phone was hacked, with people noting that the phone in question is her personal phone, though the calls and text messages reportedly didn’t come from Wiles’s phone number.
It could not be determined how the impersonator got access to Wiles’s contacts.
The voice on the other end of the phone calls reportedly sounded like Wiles, according to those who heard them. Government officials say it’s possible that the individual used artificial intelligence (AI) to imitate her voice, according to the Journals’ report.
There were a few moments during the exchanges that raised red flags for some of the lawmakers, most notably that the impersonator asked questions about Trump that Wiles wouldn’t not have asked, as she would have already known the relevant information.
In one reported example, the individual on the other end of the line asked for a cash transfer.
In many cases, the Journal noted the impersonator used incorrect grammar and the messages were different than how Wiles usually communicates.
Wiles reportedly warned her contacts about the impersonator, though some had already engaged with the individual before realizing it wasn’t Trump’s chief of staff, the Journal reported.
It’s reportedly not the first time Wiles was suspected of being hacked. The Journal noted that during last year’s presidential campaign, Iranian operatives hacked into Wiles’s email account and were able to access information on Trump’s then-running mate, Vice President Vance.
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