AI deepfake of Marco Rubio used in voice scam targeting U.S. officials
An AI-generated deepfake of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was used to contact foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a member of Congress via voicemail, reportedly attempting to extract sensitive information or gain account access. No evidence indicates the recipients were deceived by the scam, which exemplifies the escalating threat of voice cloning technologies being misused for fraud.
What happened
An audio deepfake impersonating Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a member of Congress with AI-generated voicemails mimicking his voice, according to a senior U.S. official and a State Department cable dated July 3, 2025.
The messages were reportedly designed to extract sensitive information or gain account access. Services such as Eleven Labs, Speechify and Respeecher enable the creation of audio deepfakes with as little as 15 to 30 seconds of someone's speech.
Reported impact
There is no public evidence that any of the recipients of the scam messages were fooled by the deepfake.
Index analysis
Deepfake-related incidents surged to 580 in the first half of 2025 alone, nearly four times as many as in all of 2024 (150 incidents).
Financial losses from deepfake-enabled fraud exceeded $200 million during the first quarter of 2025 alone.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.