Federal authorities are looking into who may be trying to impersonate White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
The Wall Street Journal reported that government officials and business executives have received text messages and phone calls from someone claiming to be Wiles.
White House officials said they don’t believe a foreign nation is behind it.
“The White House takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated,” a White House spokeswoman said.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency is taking the impersonation seriously.
“The FBI takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness,” Patel said in a statement. “Safeguarding our administration officials’ ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president’s mission is a top priority.”
Wiles managed Trump’s presidential campaign before becoming the first woman White House chief of staff.
Wiles has said her cellphone contacts were hacked. This, in turn, has given the impersonator access to the private phone numbers of some very influential people.
The phone in question is her personal cellphone, people close to the situation said.
People who heard the calls said the person sounded like Wiles. Some believe artificial intelligence was used.
The subject of the calls and texts have varied.
For instance, One lawmaker was asked by the impersonator to gather a list of individuals who could be pardoned by Trump.
In other cases, the impersonator has asked questions Wiles would know the answer.
The calls and text messages did not come from Wiles’s phone number.
The impostor used broken grammar and the messages were too formal compared to how Wiles normally talks or writes.
Wiles has apologized for the inconvenience.
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