An AI-enabled voice scam caused approximately €95 million in losses at Fideuram, Italy’s largest private bank, after fraudsters used a fake WhatsApp message and a synthetic voice to persuade a senior executive to authorize large overseas transfers, according to Italian outlet Milano Finanza.

The incident occurred in February 2026 and targeted Fideuram, the private banking arm of Intesa Sanpaolo, one of Italy’s largest banking groups. The case has since prompted an international effort to trace the funds, part of which was converted into cryptocurrency.

How the deception worked

According to Milano Finanza, Paolo Molesini, who was then Fideuram’s chairman, received a WhatsApp message appearing to come from Carlo Messina, chief executive of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group. The message established an apparent sense of urgency and authority before a second stage of the scheme.

Molesini subsequently received a call featuring an AI-generated voice impersonating lawyer Paolo Nastasi. Synthetic voices of this kind are produced with artificial-intelligence tools that can replicate a person’s voice, a technique commonly known as voice cloning. The synthetic voice reinforced the instructions attributed to Messina and added credibility to the fraudulent request. The combination of a familiar messaging platform and a convincing cloned voice led Molesini to act on the instructions.

Believing the request to be legitimate, Molesini directed Fideuram’s finance department to transfer approximately €95 million to accounts in mainland China, Hong Kong and other destinations. The layered approach relied on more than a single fake call: the fraudsters first used a trusted communications channel and then followed up with a voice designed to resemble a known legal figure.

Recovery efforts and cryptocurrency transfers

Fideuram later recovered approximately €40 million of the transferred funds. Portuguese authorities separately froze another €13 million connected to the case. Together, those amounts represent roughly €53 million of the approximately €95 million originally transferred, leaving roughly €42 million still unrecovered.

At least €36 million of the diverted funds was converted into cryptocurrency after moving through several overseas transfers. Investigators are tracking the money through international judicial cooperation involving the countries and financial systems through which it passed, including China, Hong Kong and Portugal.

The movement of the funds across multiple jurisdictions has complicated recovery efforts. Once the money entered cryptocurrency markets after being transferred through overseas accounts, investigators had to trace assets across both traditional financial channels and digital-asset transactions.

Investigation and leadership change

The remaining funds are being pursued through cooperation between multiple national judicial authorities. The international scope of the transfers means that the investigation extends beyond Italy’s legal and financial systems and requires coordination among authorities in the jurisdictions involved. How much of the outstanding sum is ultimately recovered depends on the outcome of that cross-border effort, including the tracing of assets that moved through cryptocurrency markets.

Molesini was not investigated in connection with the scam, according to Milano Finanza. He resigned as Fideuram’s chairman on March 12, 2026, citing personal reasons. His departure came approximately one month after the fraudulent transfers, although no wrongdoing was attributed to him.

The case illustrates how synthetic voice technology can be combined with impersonation on messaging platforms to target corporate decision-makers. It also highlights the difficulty of verifying high-value payment instructions when they appear to come from a trusted executive or. In the Fideuram case, the difference between an apparently familiar request and a verified instruction involved tens of millions of euros.

Source: CryptoNews.net