A Rhode Island woman has been charged with phishing and email fraud after impersonating Microsoft to steal personal information from political candidates and their staff. The woman, Diana Lebeau, allegedly delivered phishing emails to 22 different campaign staffers working for a political candidate around January 2020. Lebeau, who is 21, posed as either the campaign’s managers or one of the campaign’s co-chairs to create a convincing phishing email. Recipients were prompted to enter their login details into an attached spreadsheet or to click a link that asked for the same credentials via Google Form.
Lebeau also allegedly sent phishing emails to the political candidate’s spouse and her colleagues, impersonating Microsoft’s Security Team or an employee of the company’s technology helpdesk. Again, recipients were asked to enter credentials onto a spreadsheet. In March of 2020, Lebeau launched an almost-identical campaign against a different political candidate, this time impersonating their cable and internet provider, seeking to steal account credentials. According to legal documents, Lebebau’s actions were not motivated by financial or political aims carried out to benefit any foreign government or agent.
Read More: Rhode Islander Charged with Phishing Political Candidates
