Authorities are investigating a mysterious “deepfake” video call that successfully impersonated a senior Ukrainian official.
Democratic Sen. Benjamin Cardin announced Wednesday that he had turned over materials to law enforcement in a case in which an unidentified suspect posed as a foreign government official to lure people into video calls.
“Recently, a malicious individual deceptively attempted to speak with me by posing as a celebrity. It quickly became apparent that the person I was speaking with was not who they claimed to be, so I hung up the phone. My office acted swiftly and notified the appropriate authorities.”
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“This matter has now been handed over to law enforcement agencies and a full investigation is being conducted,” he added.
Sen. Benjamin Cardin, Democrat of Maryland, during an event in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, where the Democratic senator was the target of a deepfake video call by an imposter claiming to be the Ukrainian foreign minister. (Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Kardin received what appeared to be a genuine email from Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba requesting a one-on-one meeting, and was tricked into answering the phone.
When the Democratic senator logged into a video call with Ukrainian officials, everything seemed normal at first, but the conversation quickly became tense and Cardin realized something was wrong.
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The Kuleba lookalike reportedly asked Cardin a series of direct foreign policy questions, including: “Do you support firing long-range missiles at Russian territory? I'd like to know your answer.”
After realizing what was happening, Cardin reportedly hung up the phone and contacted authorities.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Ivanovich Kuleba spoke to media ahead of the start of an informal meeting of foreign ministers at the Europe Building in Brussels, Belgium. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
The Senate Security Agency issued a warning to congressional leaders urging caution against similar plots.
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The alert noted that the scammers would ask “a series of politically-charged questions related to the upcoming election” and “likely attempt to lure the senator into commenting on political candidates.”
The FBI is reportedly investigating the incident.
