AI used to clone officials' voices, 9.5 crore euros looted from Italian bank

A fraud gang has siphoned off nearly 9.5 crore euros from Fideuram, the private banking unit of Italy's largest lending institution Intesa Sanpaolo, by using artificial intelligence (AI) to clone the identity and voices of senior officials.

The information was learned on Friday, citing two sources related to the incident. Although a large portion of the stolen money was later recovered, nearly 3.6 crore euros remain missing. Italian media outlet Corriere della Sera first reported the fraud. According to their report, the fraudulent operation began last February.

At the start of the incident, Fideuram's then chairman, Paolo Molesini, received a WhatsApp message. The message appeared to have been sent by Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina. In it, assistance was sought for an urgent financial transaction abroad.

To ensure there was no doubt about the authenticity of the message, a phone call was also made later. The call was shown as having come from the number of a senior partner of a well-known law firm. According to sources, the fraudsters used AI technology to clone that lawyer's voice.

Believing the matter to be true, Molesini instructed his finance department to transfer the money. Later, huge sums were sent to multiple foreign bank accounts in China and Hong Kong. However, Fideuram quickly detected the abnormality in the transactions and alerted the concerned banks and authorities of various countries.

After that, through the coordinated efforts of the concerned authorities of China, Portugal and Italy, nearly 5.3 crore euros could be recovered. However, the sources said the remaining money moved through various foreign bank accounts and was ultimately converted into cryptocurrency, so no further trace of that money was found.

It was learned that no investigation is underway against Molesini or any other official of Fideuram in this incident. However, prosecutors in Milan have brought a foreign national living outside Europe under investigation on charges of computer fraud. Molesini resigned as Fideuram chairman last March, citing personal reasons. No detailed explanation was given by the institution at the time of his resignation.

This is not the first incident of large-scale embezzlement in Italy using AI. Last year, fraudsters cloned the voice of one of the country's ministers and persuaded businessman Massimo Moratti to send nearly 10 lakh euros to a foreign bank account. That money was later recovered.