AI voice-cloning scam hits Italian bank: Fake executives trigger €95m overseas transfers

Fraudsters used AI-generated messages and a cloned voice to impersonate senior executives and a top lawyer, tricking an Italian private bank into transferring about €95 million ($108 million) to overseas accounts, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.

More than half of the money has since been recovered, but around €36 million remains missing, the sources told Reuters.

The sophisticated scam targeted Fideuram, the private banking arm of Italy's biggest lender, Intesa Sanpaolo.

The scheme began in February when then-Fideuram Chairman Paolo Molesini received what appeared to be a WhatsApp message from Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina.

The message sought urgent assistance with an overseas transaction.

Fraudsters then followed up with a phone call that appeared to come from a senior partner at a prominent law firm, confirming the request.

According to the sources cited by Reuters, AI technology was used to replicate the lawyer's voice, making the call appear genuine.

Believing the instructions were legitimate, Molesini asked Fideuram's finance department to make a series of transfers.

The money was sent mainly to accounts in China and Hong Kong, the sources said.

Fideuram later detected irregularities in the transactions and alerted banks and authorities in several countries.

Cooperation between authorities in Italy, China and Portugal helped recover roughly €53 million, according to the sources.

The remaining €36 million has not been traced after being moved through a network of overseas accounts and converted into cryptocurrencies, they said.

Intesa Sanpaolo and Fideuram declined to comment, Reuters reported.

Neither Molesini nor other Fideuram executives are under investigation in connection with the fraud, according to the sources.

Milan prosecutors have, however, placed a foreign national living outside Europe under investigation on suspicion of computer fraud, one source told Reuters.

Molesini resigned as Fideuram chairman in March, citing personal reasons. The bank did not provide further details at the time.

The case highlights how AI voice-cloning technology can be used to make financial scams appear to come from trusted executives or professional advisers.

Last year, fraudsters used AI to mimic the voice of an Italian minister and persuaded businessman Massimo Moratti to transfer nearly €1 million to an overseas account. The money was later recovered, Reuters reported.