Associated Incidents
Scammers used an artificial intelligence voice tool to impersonate Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and his staff in an attempt to persuade some of the country’s top businessmen to transfer money abroad.
Prada SpA co-CEO Patrizio Bertelli, fashion designer Giorgio Armani, Pirelli & C. SpA executive vice president Marco Tronchetti Provera and billionaire Massimo Moratti, the former owner of the Inter Milan soccer club, were among the targets of the attacks, according to reports in Italian newspapers La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera and others.
The attempted scam relied on a request for contributions to pay ransoms for Italian citizens imprisoned or kidnapped in Iran and Syria. The ruse came shortly after the release of Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist who was held in a Tehran prison and was released in mid-January.
Moratti confirmed to La Repubblica that he transferred an unspecified amount of money after being contacted.
On Thursday, Crosetto announced on social media network X that he knew that scammers had contacted “a big businessman,” among others, to ask for money. The minister said he had informed the police and the judiciary about the matter.
Audio deepfakes are increasingly being used to induce wealthy individuals and corporate executives to send money. In July, Bloomberg News reported that a scammer posing as CEO Benedetto Vigna had contacted a Ferrari NV executive and asked him to prepare a large sum of money to be transferred in exchange for a deal in China. The call raised suspicions and the attempted fraud was prevented.