RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s Ministry of Economy disclosed on Monday night, July 22nd, that Paulo Guedes’ cell phone had been hacked and that he intends to take appropriate measures on Tuesday, July 23rd.
The advisory further reported that messages originating from the minister’s cell phone should be disregarded.
Besides justice minister Sérgio Moro, Paulo Guedes is the only minister of Jair Bolsonaro’s government who is well known to Brazilians.
Moro’s cell phone too was hacked at the beginning of June, which marked the starting point for the Intercept Leaks, that have since become widely known and have caused considerable damage for both the justice minister’s and Brazil’s reputations.
Guedes’ cell phone misfortune is the second case in only two days involving government-connected devices. On Sunday, July 21st, the government leader in Congress, Joice Hasselmann (PSL-SP), also reported that her cell phone had been hacked.
Hasselmann released a video on a social media network in which she says she had her cell phone hacked and cloned. According to her, the police have already been called in to investigate the case.
“As with the cell phone of our minister Sérgio Moro, my phone was cloned, hacked, and criminals are forwarding fake messages on my behalf, through Telegram,” she said.
In the video, Joice said she had detected the potential intrusion when, at dawn, she received a call from journalist Lauro Jardim and was surprised by the situation.
“I was sure of this after these crooks searched through Telegram — which I haven’t used in a long time, since the campaign — for Lauro Jardim, a very well known journalist in Brazil, and at dawn, I get home, and there is a call from Lauro Jardim on my phone,” said Joice.
“I found it extremely strange. A call at dawn, what’s that all about? A call at a time like that. I sent a message, and he [Lauro Jardim] replied: “I am replying to your messages on Telegram.” However, I had not sent any message on Telegram,” she added.
Then, in the video recording, Joice showed the handset and said that there were records of calls made from her phone to her own cell phone. “As if it were possible for me to call myself. Exactly what happened with Sérgio Moro,” she stated.
In June, there was an attempted attack on Sérgio Moro’s cell phone. At the time, Moro picked up a call from his own number.
Joice also showed records of calls from Lauro Jardim and a foreign number. “There’s an international connection, and I have no idea where this is from,” she said.
According to the legislator, one of her advisors contacted the Federal Police to address the issue. She further stated that she had enhanced security in her WhatsApp messaging app.