Description: Scammers allegedly used an AI-cloned lawyer's voice to validate a WhatsApp request impersonating the CEO of Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo. Fideuram, its private-banking subsidiary, reportedly transferred about €95 million overseas after its chairman accepted the instructions. Part of the money was recovered, but tens of millions reportedly remained missing. Milan prosecutors opened a fraud investigation.
Editor Notes: 02/23/2026: Initial fraudulent contact began, according to the judicial reconstruction cited in reporting. 03/12/2026: Fideuram's chairman resigned, with the bank citing personal reasons. 09/25/2026: Public reporting described the fraud and the ongoing Milan investigation, months after the underlying events. 10/13/2026: Incident ID created.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Deepfake technology developers , Synthetic media generation technology developers , Synthetic audio generation technology developers and Voice cloning technology developers developed an AI system deployed by Scammers targeting Fideuram , Voice cloning impersonation scammers , Scammers , Impersonation scammers , Synthetic media creators and Deepfake creators, which harmed Fideuram , Banks , Financial scam victims , Victims of voice cloning impersonation scams , Victims of impersonation scams , Intesa Sanpaolo , Paolo Molesini , Paolo Nastasi , Lawyers , Epistemic integrity and Privacy.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Deepfake technology , Synthetic media generation technology , Synthetic audio generation technology , Voice cloning technology , WhatsApp and Messaging apps
Incident Stats
Incident ID
1749
Report Count
3
Incident Date
2026-02-23
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
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MILAN, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Fraudsters using AI to impersonate senior executives stole €95 million ($108 million) from Fideuram, the private banking arm of Italy's biggest lender Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), opens new tab, two sources familiar…
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A series of "similar" scams, exploiting artificial intelligence through text messages, emails, and "voice cloning," which involves recreating voices identical to real ones.
Scams amounting to tens of millions of euros affected major banks, …
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It depends on how Fideuram and Banca Intesa see it: whether they lament the glass half empty, for the €36 million that Fideuram (controlled by Intesa) lost in February in an international scam to the detriment of its president Paolo Molesin…
Variants
A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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