Italian Bank Loses €95 Million to AI-Driven Scam

A sophisticated AI-driven scam has defrauded an Italian bank of €95 million. The heist began on February 23, when the chairman of Fideuram, Paolo Molesini, received a WhatsApp message from someone claiming to be Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina. The sender explained that Intesa could not conduct the transaction directly due to confidentiality concerns, and that the deal needed to be executed through the subsidiary Fideuram.

Molesini then received a call from someone claiming to be Paolo Nastasi, a managing partner at A&O Shearman Italia. The voice sounded authentic, but investigators found that the fraudsters had recreated Nastasi's voice using AI. The lawyer was not involved in the scam.

The fraudsters also sent Molesini 11 documents, including a confidentiality agreement and a power of attorney supposedly signed by Messina, and then provided account details for the transfers. On the same day, an unknown individual contacted Fideuram's head of treasury and payments, posing as a bank executive. He warned that Molesini would issue instructions for urgent confidential transfers.

The funds were mostly sent to accounts in China and Hong Kong. Upon discovering the fraud, Fideuram activated international interbank mechanisms. A Chinese bank blocked and returned about €40 million, while another €13 million were frozen in Portugal as part of the Milan prosecutor's investigation. However, at least €36 million were moved through a chain of foreign accounts and converted into cryptocurrency.

Investigators are attempting to trace the assets' further movement through international requests. A 48-year-old Israeli citizen is a suspect in the case. He is linked to one of the foreign accounts through which about €4 million passed. Molesini resigned as chairman of Fideuram on March 12, citing personal reasons.