Theft of Italy's largest bank using artificial intelligence

Fraudsters used artificial intelligence to impersonate senior executives and stole 95 million euros from Fideuram, the private banking arm of Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo. More than half of the funds were later recovered, but nearly 36 million euros remain missing. The scheme began in February when the chairman of Fideuram received a fake WhatsApp message from the CEO of the parent bank, followed by a phone call using AI to mimic a lawyer's voice. The funds were transferred to external accounts in China and Hong Kong, then partially converted into cryptocurrencies.

Fraudsters used artificial intelligence to impersonate senior executives and stole 95 million euros ($108 million) from Fideuram, the private banking arm of Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo. More than half of the funds were later recovered, but nearly 36 million euros remain missing. This operation has been considered one of the most serious AI-related operations in the world. The scheme began in February when Paolo Molesini, then chairman of Fideuram, received a WhatsApp message that appeared to be from Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, followed by a phone call using AI to mimic a lawyer's voice. Molesini instructed the finance department to arrange transfers to external accounts, mostly in China and Hong Kong. Fideuram quickly detected the irregularities and alerted authorities. About 53 million euros were recovered through cooperation between China, Portugal, and Italy, while the remaining amount was converted into Bitcoin. Molesini is not under investigation, but the Milan public prosecutor's office has placed a foreign national under investigation.