Fraudsters used AI to mimic the voice of Italy’s Defence Minister, making calls to solicit funds for the release of kidnapped individuals.
MILAN: Italian authorities have successfully frozen nearly €1 million (£870,000) after a high-profile businessman fell victim to a sophisticated scam involving artificial intelligence (AI).
On Wednesday, officials confirmed that the funds, which had been transferred to a foreign bank account, were part of a fraudulent scheme where scammers used AI to impersonate Italy’s Defence Minister, Guido Crosetto. The perpetrators employed AI technology to replicate the minister’s voice and placed calls requesting urgent financial help for the release of Italian journalists who had been kidnapped in the Middle East.
Several notable figures in Italy’s business world, including fashion mogul Giorgio Armani and Prada co-founder Patrizio Bertelli, were also targeted in the scam. However, prosecutors in Milan indicated that only Massimo Moratti, the former owner of the Inter Milan football club, had been tricked into transferring the requested funds.
Although officials initially believed the stolen funds might be difficult to recover, they announced on Wednesday that the money had been traced to a bank account in the Netherlands, where it was promptly frozen.
“I’m very pleased that the money fraudulently taken from an entrepreneur, using my falsified voice and name, has been traced to a Dutch account and completely frozen,” Crosetto wrote on X. “Excellent work by the magistrates and police forces.”
Moratti, who made two payments totaling nearly €1 million, had initially believed he would be reimbursed by the Bank of Italy, sources familiar with the case revealed. There was no immediate comment from him, but it is understood that he filed a legal complaint after realizing he had been scammed. “It all seemed real. They were convincing. It could happen to anyone,” he told La Repubblica over the weekend.
The scam involved fraudsters posing as officials from Italy’s Ministry of Defence, with calls that appeared to originate from government offices in Rome. The scammers then passed the phone to a man they claimed was Minister Crosetto, who requested the funds, stating that the government could not be seen as involved in the transactions. According to Crosetto, AI technology was used to create a remarkably realistic imitation of his voice.
This incident highlights the growing risks associated with AI-powered fraud, where voice imitation and other technologies are increasingly being used to deceive individuals into making large financial transfers under false pretenses.
