AI Messaging Scam Costs Italy’s Top Bank Intesa Millions, Sources Say
Authorities say €53 million was recovered after fraudsters used AI to impersonate executives and route stolen funds through overseas accounts and cryptocurrencies.
- 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.
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The President of De Nederlandsche Bank, Olaf Sleijpen, was a guest on WNL Op Zondag on Sunday. During the broadcast, a recent fraud case in Italy was discussed, in which the Southern European country's largest bank fell victim to fraud using AI. According to the bank president, this is a major risk.
Fraudsters who used artificial intelligence to act as directors and other high-ranking officials managed to determine Fideluram, the private banking division of Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest bank, to transfer 95 million euros to foreign accounts, told Reuters two sources close to the situation, according to News.ro.
This was according to two sources familiar with the matter on Friday (25/9/2026) as reported by Reuters.
Intesa Sanpaolo Bank AI Scam: Fraudsters Steal INR 10,000 Crore Using Fake Executive Calls | 🌎 LatestLY
Fraudsters allegedly used AI-generated voices and fake WhatsApp messages to impersonate senior executives, tricking officials at Fideuram, the private banking arm of Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo, into transferring around €95 million (approximately $108 million) to overseas accounts, according to two sources familiar with the matter. 🌎 Intesa Sanpaolo Bank AI Scam: Fraudsters Steal INR 10,000 Crore Using Fake Executive Calls.
Fake Messina (Intesa) says to Molesini: "We buy a foreign bank" and he makes the transfers The article Swindled the former president of Fideuram. Stacked 95 million with IA and Whatsapp comes from The Truth.
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