Case fideuram-ai-voice-clone-ceo-fraudDeepfake fraudItaly
Fake CEO WhatsApp and cloned lawyer's voice trick Intesa's Fideuram into sending €95M abroad
In February 2026 Fideuram's chairman received a WhatsApp message posing as Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina, then a call using an AI clone of a law-firm partner's voice; about €95M ($108M) went to accounts abroad. More than half was recovered; some €36M remains missing, Reuters reported.
HighAttack using AIStatus: Under investigationVerified case file
Open in the interactive mapCite this case
- Reported
- Sep 25, 2026
- Location
- Italy
- Target
- Fideuram, private banking arm of Intesa Sanpaolo
- Severity
- High
- Triggered by
- Unidentified fraudsters; Milan prosecutors are investigating a foreign national living outside Europe
- Actor type
- Criminal
- Sector
- Financial services
- Reported loss
- $108M
- CVE
- None
What happened
In February 2026 Fideuram's chairman received a WhatsApp message posing as Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina, then a call using an AI clone of a law-firm partner's voice; about €95M ($108M) went to accounts abroad. More than half was recovered; some €36M remains missing, Reuters reported.
Impact: About €95M ($108M) was sent mainly to accounts in China, Hong Kong and Portugal. Roughly €53M was recovered through cooperation between Italian, Chinese and Portuguese authorities; about €36M, converted into cryptocurrency, has not been traced. It is the largest single AI-enabled fraud loss in this registry.
Who triggered it
Actor: Unidentified fraudsters; Milan prosecutors are investigating a foreign national living outside Europe
Attribution: Reuters, citing two people familiar with the matter, says Milan prosecutors placed a foreign national living outside Europe under investigation for computer fraud. No group has been named.
Motive: Financial gain
How it happened
Attack vector: Business email compromise by WhatsApp: a message impersonating the group CEO asked for urgent help with an overseas transaction, and a follow-up phone call used an AI-cloned voice of Paolo Nastasi, managing partner of A&O Shearman's Italian offices, to confirm the instruction.
Root cause: A high-value transfer was authorised on the strength of a messaging-app request and a phone call, both of which could be impersonated; the voice confirmation was defeated by voice cloning.
Timeline
- Fideuram's chairman receives a WhatsApp message posing as Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina, followed by a call with an AI-cloned voice of a law-firm partner; about €95M is transferred abroad
- Chairman Paolo Molesini resigns, citing personal reasons
- Reuters reports the loss, citing two sources; Italian outlets including Il Post publish the same day
- Wider coverage reports about €53M recovered and about €36M still missing after conversion to cryptocurrency
Response
Milan prosecutors opened a computer-fraud investigation. Chairman Paolo Molesini resigned in March 2026, citing personal reasons; Reuters' sources said neither he nor other Fideuram executives are under investigation. Intesa Sanpaolo and Fideuram declined to comment. The law partner whose voice was cloned had no involvement.
Current status: Under investigation
Sources (open in a new tab)
- Reuters (via TradingView) tradingview.com
- Il Post ilpost.it
- Gulf News gulfnews.com
- Il Sole 24 Ore en.ilsole24ore.com
- Biometric Update biometricupdate.com
Cite this case
Fake CEO WhatsApp and cloned lawyer's voice trick Intesa's Fideuram into sending €95M abroad. AI Threat Watch, case fideuram-ai-voice-clone-ceo-fraud, Sep 25, 2026. https://aithreat.io/cases/fideuram-ai-voice-clone-ceo-fraud/
Permanent link: https://aithreat.io/cases/fideuram-ai-voice-clone-ceo-fraud/