Out former congressman and convicted fraudster George Santos fell for an identity theft scam targeting himself and at least one current member of Congress last month.In June, Santos and Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) both received messages via Telegram from someone claiming to be House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford (R-AK), the Washington Post reports. Using an outdated cellphone number for Crawford, the imposter claimed to be working on a project with the First Lady and said they had recommended Santos for a coordinator position. Related Gay fraud & former Rep. George Santos throws away chance at presidential pardon He called Trumps inner circle a bunch of guard dogs who have told him to go f himself. Hi Rick, Id love to learn more, Santos reportedly responded, asking to ring back in an hour. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today As the Post notes, the messages came as Santos prepares to begin serving a seven-year prison sentence on July 25 for crimes including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering related to his 2022 congressional campaign. Santos did not comment on how he expected to coordinate such a project with the First Lady from prison.While Burlison did not follow the imposters instructions to download a special app to receive more details about the alleged project, Santos did even after calling the number and finding it had been disconnected. Santos was reportedly told he would be assigned a Washington, D.C., phone number after installing the app, but was instead given a number with a New York City area code. Still, he continued to follow the imposters instructions to create a PIN and share it with the person posing as Crawford, according to the Post.Its unclear at what point Santos realized he was not actually messaging with Crawford. But he told the paper that he ended communication with the imposter before his information was compromised and told a member of Congress about the interaction.Dude Santos wrote, according to the Post. I just got spoofed by Rick Crawfords old number.The fake Crawford messages are part of a growing trend of scammers using AI-generated voice and text messages to target government officials.Im dealing with my own issues with the law, and now I have to be a victim of this garbage, Santos said. This is not the first time Santos has been targeted by a scammer. Earlier this year, a Texas man was sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting that he targeted Santos and other high-profile people facing legal trouble. Hector Medina reportedly contacted Santos beginning in 2023 claiming that he worked with prosecutors and judges across the country and could cut a deal for the disgraced congressman. According to prosecutors, Medina repeatedly urged Santos to wire him $900,000 and claimed he could get all evidence against the former New York Republican disappeared.Last August, Santos himself pleaded guilty to two felony counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The 23 charges he initially faced included wire fraud, identity theft, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making materially false statements to both the Federal Election Commission and the U.S. House of Representatives. Santos, who won his bid to represent New Yorks 3rd congressional district as a Republican in 2022, was accused of stealing campaign donors identities and charging tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent purchases to their credit cards; faking a $500,000 loan to his own campaign; filing false campaign finance reports; and other offenses.Shortly after taking office in 2022, Santos was the subject of a damning New York Times report exposing his flagrant and extensive lies about his own biography. Following a House Ethics Committee report that found substantial evidence that he used campaign funds for his personal expenses and sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit, the House voted to expel Santos from Congress in December 2023.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.