An Italian bank had €95 million stolen from it after falling victim to an AI scam and fake WhatsApp messages.
With scammers evolving their tricks all the time, banks and other financial services regularly reiterate that customers need to be careful. You’ll get emails and letters telling you about the way that officials will contact you and to not trust people who ask for details over the phone.
However, in Italy, Fideuram, the private banking arm of Italian lender Intesa Sanpaolo, fell victim to a new scam revolving around AI voice messages.
As per Reuters, Fideuram had €95 million/$108 million/£81 million stolen from it as hackers used AI to impersonate senior officials who would have access to the money.
Italian bank recovers some money stolen in AI scam
According to the report, the scam first took place back in February, as a former Fideuram Chairman received a WhatsApp message that he believed was the real deal. The message noted that urgent help was needed with an overseas transaction, with a phone call being made as a result.
On that call, scammers used AI to recreate the voice of a lawyer, making the former chairman believe everything was above board.
After the transactions – which were mainly focused on China and Hong Kong – went through, the banking group ultimately flagged them as being off, prompting an investigation, which saw around €53 million being recovered.
The bank handed over money to scammers in China and Hong Kong.
According to Reuters, the outstanding money has been converted to cryptocurrency, passing through a set of offshore accounts.
That has made it difficult for officials to trace, despite the ongoing investigation, and it remains to be seen if the outstanding amount will be recovered in any form.
Over in Sweden, police are urging people to “be nasty” to potential scam callers, and end calls they don’t feel comfortable with. That advice probably would have helped Fideuram keep all their money too.