What happened
In September 2024 the office of Senator Ben Cardin, then chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, received an email purporting to be from former Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba requesting a call. On the resulting Zoom call the person looked and sounded like Kuleba but began aggressively pressing Cardin for positions on politically charged issues, including long-range missile strikes into Russian territory and comments touching on US presidential candidates. Cardin's staff ended the call and the State Department confirmed it was not Kuleba. The Senate security office warned other offices about the attempt's sophistication.
How the deception worked
The pretext exploited a routine of the job: a foreign official Cardin had genuinely met requesting a follow-up video call on a live policy question. Because the identity was plausible and the scheduling followed normal staff channels, the meeting went ahead without independent verification through the State Department. On camera the deepfake supplied the visual and vocal confirmation staff expected. The impersonator then pushed for on-the-record statements that could be clipped and weaponised, applying pressure by demanding immediate answers. The tell was behavioural rather than technical: the real Kuleba would not badger a committee chair for soundbites, and the mismatch in conduct ended the call.
AI involvement · Suspected AI-enabled
Senate security officials described the video call participant as an apparent deepfake of former Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba that matched his appearance and voice from prior encounters.
The control that would have caught it· our reading, not a claim from the sources
Legislative offices should route requests for meetings with foreign officials through the State Department or the relevant embassy for confirmation before a call is scheduled.
Sources (2)
- Ben Cardin targeted in apparent deepfake call with someone posing as Dmytro KulebaNBC News·nbcnews.comOpen ↗
- Elaborate Deepfake Operation Takes a Meeting With US SenatorDark Reading·darkreading.comOpen ↗
This entry summarises public reporting. It is not a legal finding, and details can change as investigations conclude. Found an error? Send a correction.