Fraudsters used artificial intelligence (AI) technology to spoof messages and mimic the voices of senior executives, thereby stealing 95 million euros (equivalent to 108 million USD) from Fideuram—the private banking arm of Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest bank.To date, Italian authorities have recovered more than half of the funds, though approximately 36 million euros remain missing.
According to the newspaper Corriere della Sera, the incident occurred last February. Paolo Molesini, the former Chairman of Fideuram, received a WhatsApp message that appeared to be from Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina, requesting urgent assistance with an overseas transaction.
Shortly thereafter, the scammers called the victim, posing as a senior partner at a prestigious law firm to confirm the instruction.
Notably, they used AI technology to perfectly replicate the lawyer's voice, leaving the victim with no reason to be suspicious.
Fully trusting the request, Mr. Molesini directed the finance department to urgently execute a series of transfers to overseas accounts.
Fortunately, Fideuram subsequently detected irregularities in the transactions and immediately alerted banking systems and authorities across multiple countries.
About 53 million euros were successfully recovered through the cooperative efforts of authorities in China, Portugal, and Italy. However, the remaining funds vanished without a trace after being funneled through a complex network of foreign accounts and converted into cryptocurrency.
Currently, neither Mr. Molesini nor other Fideuram executives are under investigation. Instead, prosecutors in Milan are investigating a foreign suspect residing outside Europe on charges of computer fraud. Mr. Molesini had previously submitted his resignation as chairman in March, citing personal reasons. At the time, Fideuram Bank offered no explanation for his departure.