A team of Iranian hackers impersonated #Ginni #Thomas,
the wife of conservative Supreme Court Justice #Clarence #Thomas,
in an effort to extract information from people close to former President Donald Trump, CNN reported.
An indictment unsealed on Friday alleges that the three Iranian men gained access to the email account of a Trump campaign official this summer,
which allowed them to steal debate-preparation material and information on possible vice presidential candidates.
The practice is known as “spear phishing” among hackers.
Among the people whose accounts were compromised were #Roger #Stone, the veteran Republican dirty trickster previously pardoned by Trump before he left office.
Between April and May 2024, email was used as part of a phishing campaign that targeted, among others, a former security adviser to a former president.
Ginni Thomas was one of a number of identities fraudulently used by the hackers to target the Trump campaign.
The others have not been named but the victims detailed by the Justice Department include a series which appear closely linked to Trump,
suggesting that the use of names such as Ginni Thomas was a successful move by the Iranians.
Among those who fell for the phishing scam were a former deputy director of the CIA,
a former ambassador to Israel,
an ex-State Department adviser who appears to have advised the failed Nikki Haley campaign for president,
and a former presidential homeland security adviser.
Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri and Yasar Balaghi face charges of identity theft and wire fraud.
The indictment says they were acting on behalf of Iran’s #Islamic #Revolutionary #Guard Corps.
Although Ginni Thomas is not mentioned by name in the indictment, it says that the hackers created a fake email using the identity of a
“spouse of a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice.”
In addition to being the wife of a Supreme Court justice, Thomas is a conservative activist.
She made headlines for sending texts to Donald Trump’s then Chief of Staff #Mark #Meadows, on Jan. 6, 2021, urging him to overturn the election
—as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
One read, “Biden and the Left [are] attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”
Thomas, a conservative firebrand, claims that she does not influence her husband.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-donald-trump-campaign-got-spearfished-by-fake-ginni-thomas
