Sen. Lindsey Graham Says He’s Handed His Phone To The FBI After Someone Impersonating Majority Leader Chuck Schumer ‘Hacked’ His Phone

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said that the FBI is investigating a possible hacking of his phone by someone impersonating Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“My phone is in the hands of the FBI now,” Graham said. “I got a message, I think, from Schumer, but it wasn’t from Schumer. The next thing you know, my phone’s… I don’t know what. Anything you can create, apparently, can be hacked.”

The Senate Sergeant At Arms, who manages cybersecurity for the chamber, delivered an advisory warning to Senate offices regarding the phishing scheme effort.

“The Sergeant At Arms is investigating a possible hack of Sen. Graham’s phone,” Taylor Reidy, a spokesperson for the South Carolina senator, stated.

Schumer is famous for using a flip phone and preferring calling over texting. Similar hacking attempts were reported on other Senate staff last week.

“Reports of a text-based phishing attack on Senate mobile devices are increasing,” an email from the Senate Sergeant at Arms sent to Senate staffers stated. “The message impersonates a trusted source to start a conversation.”

The hacker then attempted to get the target to install the Telegram messaging by clicking on a link which, as the email puts it, “results in the device behaving abnormally.”

Graham was using his personal phone, not a Senate device or Senate network.

It is not clear who was behind the hacking attempt. Lawmakers and their staff endure many cyber threats, from state-backed spies to cybercriminals.

Hacking may be an effort to gain more access to Senate targets for future operations.

Other senators started receiving texts pretending to be White House officials, from the chief of staff to the vice president’s office. Some of these hackers even posed as Schumer.

It’s not the first time Graham’s cell phone has been in the news.

In 2015, Trump called Graham out during a rally in South Carolina, targeting him for suggesting that the former president was acting like a “jacka–” in his bid for the presidency. Trump shared Graham’s cell phone number with the audience.

Graham’s first reply was on Twitter. He said that he might get a new phone and asked if he should get an “iPhone or Android.”

By the next day, Graham teamed up with conservative website IJReview to produce a one-minute video showing him destroying his flip phone in eight ways. At the end of this video, he said, “Or if all else fails, you can always give your number to ‘The Donald.'” 

On February 24, Graham was loudly booed during Trump’s speech in South Carolina.

During the former president’s victory speech over Nikki Haley, he introduced Graham to the stage and referred to him as “a little bit further left than some people on this stage.”

During the South Carolina senator’s appearance, a few crowd members cheered, but most of them booed. Trump instantly tried to calm things down.

Graham spoke for a short time before Trump returned to the microphone.