Intesa Sanpaolo's Fideuram lost €95M in February to a fraud using a WhatsApp CEO impersonation and an AI-cloned lawyer's voice
Reuters reported on Sept 26, 2026 that fraudsters tricked Fideuram, Intesa Sanpaolo's private bank, into wiring about €95M (~$108M) to accounts in China and Hong Kong in February 2026. The chairman got a WhatsApp message posing as Intesa CEO Carlo Messina, then a confirming call from a voice investigators believe was an AI clone of a law-firm partner he knew. About €53M was recovered; ~€36M is still missing after conversion to crypto. It is among the largest reported deepfake-voice frauds.
Key facts
- Dates: Feb 23–25, 2026; chairman Paolo Molesini left in March citing personal reasons; first reported by Reuters (two sources) on Sept 26
- Method: WhatsApp message impersonating CEO Carlo Messina about an urgent overseas deal, then a phone call in the voice of Paolo Nastasi, managing partner of A&O Shearman Italy, believed to be AI-generated
- Money: ~€95M sent mainly to accounts in China and Hong Kong; ~€53M recovered with Chinese, Portuguese and Italian authorities; ~€36M missing
- Milan prosecutors are investigating a foreign national living outside Europe for computer fraud; Molesini and other executives are not under investigation; Intesa and Fideuram declined to comment
What happened
A two-step social-engineering attack on a bank chairman, a spoofed WhatsApp message from his CEO followed by a cloned-voice call from a lawyer he knew, moved about €95M out of Fideuram over three days in February. The case only became public through Reuters seven months later.
Why it matters
It shows that voice cloning now defeats high-value controls at a large European bank, not just retail customers, and lands the same week as debate over human-passing video avatars (Tavus Griffin). The Reuters original was not directly accessible; facts are from outlets citing it.
Changelog
- 2026-10-03: created (morning web run, AI Weekly)
Sources (4)
- pressPrivate Banker International (via Yahoo Finance): Intesa's private banking arm hit by €95m voice AI scam
- pressGulf News: AI voice-cloning scam hits Italian bank
- pressCybernews: AI voice scam hits Italian bank for €95 million
- pressTrending Topics: Intesa Sanpaolo deepfake, €95 million
id: 2026-09-26-fideuram-95m-ai-voice-clone-fraud · updated 2026-10-03 · open in the interactive timeline