AI voice scam hits Italian bank for €95 million
While some money has been recovered, around €36 million ($41 million) remains missing.
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- Fideuram transferred about €95 million after fraudsters impersonated senior executives and a lawyer.
- Reuters sources said scammers used AI to copy the lawyer’s voice during the fraud.
- Authorities recovered roughly €53 million, but about €36 million remains missing after overseas transfers.
- Italian prosecutors are investigating a foreign national and other similar scams targeting companies.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Italian private bank Fideuram transferred €95 million ($108 million) to fraudsters after crooks used AI and fake messages to impersonate senior executives and a lawyer.
In February, then-Fideuram Chairman Paolo Molesini received a WhatsApp message that appeared to come from Carlo Messina, CEO of parent company Intesa Sanpaolo.
The message requested urgent help with an overseas transaction.
Molesini then received a phone call that appeared to come from a senior partner at a prominent Italian law firm confirming that the transaction was legitimate. The caller was impersonating Paolo Nastasi, managing partner of A&O Shearman Italy, who was not involved in the fraud.
Reuters sources said that AI was used to replicate his voice. Molesini was also sent 11 documents, including a confidentiality agreement and an apparent special power of attorney bearing Messina’s signature.
As a result, Molesini requested a series of transfers to foreign accounts, mainly in China and Hong Kong, amounting to roughly €95 million ($108 million).
Fideuram soon spotted irregularities in the transfers and alerted banks and authorities in several countries.
Roughly €53 million ($60 million) was later recovered through cooperation between authorities in China, Portugal and Italy, leaving around €36 million ($41 million) missing.
According to Reuters, the rest of the funds remain untraced after being routed through accounts overseas and converted into cryptocurrency.
None of the Fideuram executives are under investigation, but Milan prosecutors are investigating a foreign national living outside Europe for suspected computer fraud.
ANSA reported that prosecutors are examining similar cases, including an “identical scam” targeting a non-banking company in the BPER Group that used the same lawyer’s name.
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In 2025, scammers used AI to impersonate Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and targeted prominent business figures, including designer Giorgio Armani and Prada co-founder Patrizio Bertelli. Former Inter Milan owner Massimo Moratti, who fell victim to the scam, transferred nearly €1 million to an overseas account, but the money was later recovered.
Cybernews has recently demonstrated how easy it is to clone a person's voice using commercially available AI tools.
