Latest news with #Wiles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
FBI investigates effort to impersonate White House chief of staff Susie Wiles: report
The Brief U.S. authorities are investigating an attempt to impersonate White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. The scheme involved hacked phone contacts and messages sent to senators, governors, and executives. FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau is treating the case as a top cybersecurity priority. WASHINGTON - Federal officials are investigating a troubling attempt to impersonate White House chief of staff Susie Wiles using her personal cellphone contacts, according to a report published Thursday by the Wall Street Journal. The impersonation effort reportedly involved text messages and calls sent to high-profile individuals—including U.S. senators, governors, and major business leaders—by someone claiming to be Wiles. The Journal cited sources familiar with the matter who said the messages came from someone exploiting her hacked contacts. The backstory The attempt targeted Wiles' personal phone, not her government-issued device, the Wall Street Journal reported. Wiles is a close adviser to President Donald Trump and a central figure in his current administration, making any compromise of her communications particularly sensitive. Sources told the Journal that Wiles informed associates her contact list had been breached, enabling the impersonator to reach powerful individuals while posing as her. So far, the White House has not commented publicly on the investigation What they're saying FBI Director Kash Patel acknowledged the situation in a statement released Friday. "The FBI takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness," Patel said. "Safeguarding our administration officials' ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president's mission is a top priority." Big picture view The White House has faced several recent cybersecurity breaches. Earlier this month, a hacker accessed communications from officials using the same platform as former national security adviser Mike Waltz, according to Reuters. In late 2024, U.S. intelligence assessed that Chinese cyber actors had intercepted calls involving senior American political figures. Wiles herself was previously targeted during Trump's 2024 campaign. U.S. authorities linked that earlier attack to Iranian actors, who allegedly obtained and shared private messages involving Wiles with journalists and political operatives. Given her key role in the Trump administration, Wiles' communications are likely a high-value target for foreign intelligence agencies and hostile actors. The Source This article is based on a report published by the Wall Street Journal on May 30, 2025, citing people familiar with a federal investigation into an impersonation attempt involving White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Additional context was drawn from prior Reuters reporting on recent White House cybersecurity incidents and public statements from FBI Director Kash Patel. This story was reported from Los Angeles.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
FBI investigating alleged effort to impersonate White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles
The FBI is looking into a person or people pretending to be White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. An unknown impersonator reportedly sent texts and made phone calls to Wiles' contacts, including prominent Republican politicians and business executives. Wiles has told her colleagues that her phone's contacts were hacked, sources told the Journal. According to those sources, her personal cellphone, not her government device, was the one targeted. The Journal reports that some of the individuals contacted believed that the messages came from Wiles, including one requesting a list of people that Trump could pardon. During phone calls, the impersonator reportedly used a voice that sounded like the chief of staff's, which may have been created via artificial intelligence, according to the report. But those who were contacted eventually questioned the source of information when the impersonator asked for a cash transfer and began to make grammatical errors or use language that did not seem consistent with Wiles'. The requests from the person posing as Wiles were also coming from a different phone number. During the presidential campaign, Wiles was reportedly the victim of an Iranian operation that hacked her email account. This time, the FBI has told the White House that it does not suspect foreign government involvement, according to the Journal. 'The FBI takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness,' FBI Director Kash Patel told the Journal in a statement. 'Safeguarding our administration officials' ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president's mission is a top priority.' A White House spokeswoman told the Journal that they take 'cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Susie Wiles catfish texted contacts asking for cash and pardons
A catfish posing as Susie Wiles, Donald Trump's chief of staff, texted and called her contacts asking for cash and presidential pardons, it has been reported. Ms Wiles, who is considered the most powerful woman in the White House, has privately told colleagues her personal cell phone was hacked and mined for executive contacts. The FBI has launched an investigation following the breach. The impostor is said to have sent a series of text messages and phone calls to Republican lawmakers using Artificial Intelligence to mimic her voice, according to the Wall Street Journal. In one case, the impersonator is said to have asked for a cash transfer and in another, asked a lawmaker to put together a list of people who could be pardoned by Donald Trump. 'The White House takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated,' a White House spokeswoman said. 'The FBI takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness,' Kash Patel, the FBI director, said in a statement. 'Safeguarding our administration officials' ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president's mission is a top priority.' Earlier this month, the FBI warned of 'an ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign' where actors have impersonated senior US officials to target individuals. 'The malicious actors have sent text messages and AI-generated voice messages — techniques known as smishing and vishing, respectively — that claim to come from a senior US official in an effort to establish rapport before gaining access to personal accounts,' a warning by the bureau read in May. The White House has struggled with information security. A hacker who breached the communications service used by Mike Waltz, the former national security adviser, earlier this month intercepted messages from a broad swathe of American officials. And late last year, a White House official said the US believed that an alleged sweeping Chinese cyber espionage campaign known as Salt Typhoon targeted and recorded telephone calls of 'very senior' American political figures. Ms Wiles has reportedly been targeted by hackers at least once before, in the final months of Mr Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. At the time, hackers alleged by US authorities to be acting on behalf of Iran approached journalists and a political operative with a variety of messages sent to and from Ms Wiles, some of which were eventually published. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
White House investigating how Trump's chief of staff's phone was hacked
The White House is investigating after one or more people reportedly accessed the contacts from the personal phone of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and used the information to contact other top officials and impersonate her. Wiles reportedly told people that her phone was hacked. The Wall Street Journal first reported the hack of Wiles' phone. CBS News also confirmed the reporting. The hacker or hackers are said to have accessed Wiles' phone contacts, including the phone numbers of other top U.S. officials and influential individuals. The WSJ reports that those who received phone calls impersonating Wiles used AI to impersonate her voice and sent text messages from a number not associated with Wiles. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly would not say, when asked by TechCrunch, if authorities had determined if a cloud account associated with Wiles' personal device was compromised, or if Wiles' phone was targeted by a more advanced cyberattack, such as one that involves the use of government-grade spyware. In response, the White House said it "takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated." This is the second time Wiles has been targeted by hackers. In 2024, The Washington Post reported that Iranian hackers had attempted to compromise Wiles' personal email account. The Journal said Friday, citing sources, the hackers were in fact successful in breaking into her email and obtained a dossier on Vice President JD Vance, then Trump's running mate. This is the latest cybersecurity incident to beset the Trump administration in the months since taking office. In March, former White House top national security adviser Michael Waltz mistakenly added a journalist to a Signal group of top White House officials, including Vance and Wiles, which included discussions of a planned military air-strike in Yemen. Reports later revealed that the government officials were using a Signal clone app called TeleMessage, which was designed to keep a copy of messages for government archiving. TeleMessage was subsequently hacked on at least two occasions, revealing the contents of its users' private messages. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alleged attempt to impersonate White House chief of staff under federal investigation
Federal authorities are probing a scheme to impersonate White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, according to individuals familiar with the issue, the Wall Street Journal reported. "The White House takes the cybersecurity of all staff very seriously, and this matter continues to be investigated," a White House official noted. Senators, governors, American business executives and other people have gotten texts and calls from an individual claiming to be Wiles, individuals familiar with the messages noted, according to the outlet. Who Is Susie Wiles, Trump's White House Chief Of Staff? 5 Things To Know Fbi officials informed the White House that they do not think another country is involved, some of the people noted, according to the report. Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI for comment on Friday morning, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Read On The Fox News App Trump Chief Of Staff Susie Wiles Once Helped Nfl Broadcast Legend Father Pat Summerall Beat Alcoholism "The FBI takes all threats against the president, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness," FBI Director Kash Patel declared in a statement, according to the Journal. "Safeguarding our administration officials' ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president's mission is a top priority." The chief of staff informed associates that her phone contacts had been hacked, according to some of the people, the Journal reported. The phone is her personal device, not a government phone, the individuals noted, according to the outlet. Some calls involved a voice which sounded like the chief of staff, individuals who heard them noted, according to the report. Government officials believe the impostor utilized artificial intelligence to mimic her voice, some of the individuals noted. Trump Names Susie Wiles As First Female White House Chief Of Staff In History In some cases involving texts, individuals got requests which they at first thought were official, according to the outlet, which noted that one legislator received a request to develop a list of people who could be pardoned by Trump. But it became evident to some legislators that the asks were suspect when the impostor started posing questions about the president, for which Wiles should have been privy to the answers — and in one instance, when the impostor requested a cash transfer, some of the people noted, according to the outlet. In many instances, the impostor used broken grammar and the messages were too formal compared to how Wiles normally communicates, individuals who received the messages noted, according to the outlet. The calls and texts did not emanate from Wiles's phone number, according to the article source: Alleged attempt to impersonate White House chief of staff under federal investigation
