Rep Fine claims he was target of Iranian cyberattack

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., said an Iranian state actor recently targeted him with a phishing scheme disguised as a television interview request in what he described as an apparent effort to access his personal email account.

“A talented impersonator created what looked like Newsmax to interview me,” Fine said in an interview with Fox News Digital, explaining that his employee began interacting with the message in the email as the office normally does, before realizing “the links weren’t working.”

Fine claimed the phishing scheme was designed to gain access to his personal Google account.

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The incident comes after President Donald Trump ordered an attack on Iran in February, sparking an ongoing war that the president has said will end within weeks as tensions continue to flare. The Trump administration has argued that Iran’s nuclear program and missile capabilities pose an immediate threat before the United States and Israel launch a joint attack.

Fine said he “doesn’t think the timing is coincidental” and that the alleged cyberattack occurred “literally the day after combat operations began.” The incident underscores growing concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about potential cyber and physical threats linked to the U.S.-Iran conflict, particularly to high-profile political figures.

The FBI confirmed that in early March, an Iran-linked hacker group known as the “Handala Hack Team” breached Director Kash Patel’s personal email account. A bureau spokesman said at the time that the seized information was “historical in nature” and did not include any government data, but that the FBI had taken “all necessary steps to mitigate potential risks.”

According to Fine, he learned of the alleged cyberattack targeting him when the US Capitol Police contacted him and said the assistance likely originated from an Iranian state actor.

Fox News Digital reviewed a copy of the correspondence and showed that the email was spelled “news-max.org.”

Correspondence with Fine, also reviewed by Fox News Digital, confirmed that USCP said they had information that assistance to Fine’s office may have originated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and that police wanted to arrange a meeting with the FBI Cyber ​​Task Force to further investigate the matter.

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FBI Director Kash Patel listens to Senate Intelligence Committee hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

“They proactively reached out to us,” Fine said, adding that he later reported the incident to the FBI and was told by the bureau that agents were “familiar with these actors in Iran.”

The FBI declined to comment. A source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that the FBI was able to contact Fine when the incident occurred and opened an investigation into the matter. The status of the investigation is not publicly known.

Fine emphasized that he felt targeted by Iran and said there had been a wider increase in threats against him, including verbal threats, and a separate incident of an impersonator approaching his home recently.

“I was clearly targeted. It wasn’t random,” Fine said, citing himself as “the most visible Jewish Republican politician in America.”

A billboard depicting the religious leaders of Iran since 1979: (From left) Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (until 1989), Ali Khamenei (until 2026), and Mojtaba Khamenei (incumbent) displayed on a highway in Tehran. (via AFP/Getty Images)

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Fine said he didn’t believe the alleged attackers could have collected much information from his Google account due to its limited use, but that “the worst case scenario…could be that they could track my actual location,” which left him fearing for his life.

Fine described the incident as “very stressful.”

Fine, who describes himself as the “Hebrew Hammer” and is known for his pro-Israel stances, has defended aggressive military action in Gaza and praised Trump’s joint strikes with Israel in Iran.

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Okay, one expression Shortly after the United States launched its attack on Iran, it was stated that the roots of the mission were to save western civilization.

Fine said, “We are with you, Mr. President. We will cut off the head of the snake of Muslim terrorism, we will bring lasting peace to the Middle East, we will save the Iranian people. We will remove the bombs.” “The Muslim terrorists who rule Iran have indiscriminately fired rockets not only at the Jews of Israel, but also at the 700,000 Americans living there, the 180,000 Christians living there, the ‘Dome of the Sahara’, the third holiest site in Islam, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus was crucified. We are fighting against this evil.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsmax, Google and USCP on Tuesday for additional comment.