Fraudsters targeting Fideuram—the private banking subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest lender—have executed one of the largest AI-driven financial scams to date, tricking executive leadership into transferring $108 million (€95 million) into foreign accounts.
Key details of the sophisticated digital heist include:
- The AI-Driven Deception: The scheme began when then-Fideuram Chairman Paolo Molesini received a WhatsApp message appearing to come from Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina, requesting an urgent overseas transaction. This was followed by a telephone call from a caller using AI voice-cloning technology to impersonate a senior partner at a top law firm, confirming the legitimacy of the request.
- Execution & Foreign Transfers: Believing the instructions were genuine, Molesini directed the bank’s finance department to initiate transfers primarily to accounts in China and Hong Kong.
- Recovery & Crypto Laundering: Fideuram detected irregularities shortly after and alerted international law enforcement. Through multi-agency cooperation involving authorities in Italy, China, and Portugal, approximately $60 million (€53 million–€59 million) has been recovered. However, roughly $41 million (€36 million) remains missing after being laundered through overseas accounts and converted into cryptocurrency.
- Ongoing Investigation & Leadership Impact: Neither Molesini nor any Fideuram executives are under investigation; however, Milan prosecutors have placed a foreign national residing outside Europe under investigation for computer fraud. Molesini subsequently resigned as chairman.
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