AI Messaging Scam Costs Italy’s Top Bank Intesa Millions
Fraudsters posing as Intesa Sanpaolo’s chief executive on WhatsApp, then cloning a lawyer’s voice to confirm the request, got Fideuram’s chairman to send about €95 million abroad in February 2026. Roughly €53 million was recovered from banks in China and Portugal; at least €36 million became cryptocurrency. We set out each step, the money trail, earlier cases from Ferrari to Arup, and the payment controls that break the chain.
