May 15 (UPI) -- Criminals could be using AI to send malicious texts and voicemails impersonating United States officials, the FBI warned Thursday.

"Since April 2025, malicious actors have impersonated senior US officials to target individuals, many of whom are current or former senior US federal or state government officials and their contacts," a release from the FBI said.

The bureau warned recipients not to assume that these calls and texts are authentic. The techniques are known as smishing and vishing and attempt to establish a rapport with the recipient before trying to get them to divulge sensitive personal information.

Once the scammers have established trust, they attempt to get victims to switch to a different messaging platform via a hyperlink and try to access personal financial and other sensitive information, the bureau said. And also attempt access to other information related to current or government officials.

The FBI did not disclose which officials have been target or whether any were convinced to divulge personal or government information.