In a fraud that began in February, criminals used a fake WhatsApp message and an AI-generated voice call to trick Paolo Molesini, chairman of Fideuram—Intesa Sanpaolo’s private banking arm—into authorizing transfers that moved €95 million out of the bank’s accounts.
According to sources, the perpetrators first sent a WhatsApp message engineered to appear as if it came from Carlo Messina, Chief Executive Officer of Intesa Sanpaolo, requesting urgent assistance for an overseas transaction. They then reinforced the instruction with a phone call in which the voice of a senior partner at a well-known law firm was imitated using artificial intelligence. Believing the communications to be legitimate, Molesini instructed the financial department to execute multiple transfers; the recipients were mainly bank accounts in China and Hong Kong.
Reporting by Corriere della Sera and Reuters identified the total loss as €95 million. Fideuram detected the suspicious transactions relatively quickly and notified the corresponding banks and authorities in several countries. Cooperation between Chinese, Portuguese and Italian agencies made it possible to recover roughly €53 million.
About €36 million remains unaccounted for. Investigators say that funds were routed through a network of foreign accounts and converted into cryptocurrency, complicating recovery efforts.
Investigation and leadership consequences
Milan prosecutors have opened a probe on suspicion of fraud using information systems against a foreign national living outside Europe. Authorities are examining the transaction flow and the movement of funds across international accounts.
Paolo Molesini resigned his chairmanship in March, citing personal reasons; Fideuram and Intesa Sanpaolo have not provided further details. According to available information, no legal proceedings are currently underway against Molesini or other Fideuram executives.
Similar incidents and broader risk
This is not the first Italian case involving artificial-intelligence-driven impersonation. Last year, fraudsters imitated the voice of an Italian minister to persuade businessman Massimo Moratti to transfer nearly €1 million; that sum was eventually recovered in full.
The recent case highlights how rapidly advancing deepfake technologies increase the risk of sophisticated frauds against corporations and financial institutions, and underscores the importance of rapid, international cooperation to limit losses.
The article is based on reporting by Reuters. An AI assistant contributed to preparing this piece; the final content was edited and verified by a journalist.
