Italian private bank Fideuram lost €36M+ in a sophisticated AI voice-cloning scam that routed funds through crypto after initial transfers to China and Hong Kong.
Macro & Markets ·
In February 2026, the private banking arm of Italy's major financial group Intesa Sanpaolo fell victim to an orchestrated fraud involving AI voice synthesis. The former chairman received a WhatsApp message purporting to come from the holding company's chief executive, followed by a voice call using synthetic audio mimicking a lawyer. Believing the communications authentic, he directed the finance department to move roughly €95 million to accounts across mainland China, Hong Kong, and other destinations.
The scheme resulted in partial but incomplete recovery efforts. The bank retrieved around €40 million of the diverted sum, while authorities in Portugal secured a freeze on an additional €13 million. However, at least €36 million had already transited through multiple international transfers and entered cryptocurrency markets before authorities could intervene. Law enforcement agencies are now cooperating across borders to trace the converted assets.
The chairman departed his role on March 12, stating personal motives for his resignation. He faced no formal investigation in connection with the incident. The scope of the scheme—its technical sophistication and the speed of asset conversion—underscores vulnerabilities in voice authentication protocols at even large financial institutions, though the full details of how the attackers obtained initial access and targeted information remain unclear.