AI Messaging Scam Costs Italy’s Top Bank Intesa Millions, Sources Say
Fraudsters used cloned voices and a fake WhatsApp message to push urgent transfers, and banks recovered about €53 million, sources said.
- On Friday, fraudsters using AI to impersonate senior executives stole €95 million from Fideuram, the private banking arm of Intesa Sanpaolo, according to sources.
- The scheme began in February when then-Fideuram Chairman Paolo Molesini received a fake WhatsApp message from Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina, followed by a call using AI-cloned voice technology from a fake law firm partner.
- Believing the request genuine, Molesini instructed transfers to accounts in China and Hong Kong. Authorities in China, Portugal, and Italy later recovered roughly €53 million, though €36 million remains missing after conversion to cryptocurrencies.
- Milan prosecutors have placed a foreign national living outside Europe under investigation for computer fraud. Sources confirmed that neither Molesini nor other Fideuram executives are currently under investigation.
- Last year, fraudsters using AI voice-cloning technology persuaded businessman Massimo Moratti to transfer nearly €1 million to an overseas account, underscoring the rising threat of AI-driven financial schemes targeting high-profile figures.
104 Articles
104 Articles
Using artificial intelligence and impersonation, online fraudsters stole 95 million euros from Fideuram Bank, which is part of the Intesa Sanpaolo group, which is also present in Slovenia. The bank managed to recover more than half of the stolen funds.
SCAMMERS used AI to clone managers' voices and stole €95 million from Fideuram, a subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo bank. Some of the money has been returned, but €36 million is still being sought.
Scammers stole $108 million from a bank using a fake AI voice
A fake WhatsApp message, a convincing phone call and an AI-generated voice put together was enough to convince a senior banking executive to authorize €95 million (about $108 million) in overseas transfers. The target was Fideuram – Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking, the private-banking arm of Italy’s largest lender, Intesa Sanpaolo. More than half of the […] Read the original article here: Scammers stole $108 million from a bank using a fake AI v…
Fraudsters were able to steal about $108 million (95 million euros) from one of Italy's largest banks in a scam backed up by artificial intelligence. How can banks cope with such operations?
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