Fideuram Loses €95 Million to a Fake WhatsApp Message and an AI-Cloned Voice

By Carlos Montiel | Enterprise AI Specialist
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Published: 2026-10-03 | By: Carlos Montiel | Reading time: ~5 minutes

A WhatsApp message that appeared to come from the CEO and a call with a lawyer's cloned voice were enough for the private-banking arm of Italy's largest bank to send roughly €95 million to overseas accounts. It is the costliest AI-enabled fraud made public this year.

What happened

According to Reuters, citing sources, and as picked up by outlets including Il Post, TechRadar, and Gulf News around September 25, 2026, criminals who used AI to impersonate executives got Fideuram, the private-banking unit of Intesa Sanpaolo, to transfer about €95 million (roughly $108 million) to accounts abroad.

The scheme began in February 2026. Fideuram's then-chairman, Paolo Molesini, received a WhatsApp message that appeared to come from Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina, asking for urgent help with a transaction abroad. A call followed that seemed to come from a senior partner at a prestigious law firm; according to the sources, AI was used to replicate the lawyer's voice. Convinced the instruction was legitimate, Molesini asked the finance team to carry out a series of transfers.

Where the money went and what has been recovered

Amount siphoned ............ ~€95 million (~$108 million) Recovered .................. ~€53 million (Italy, China, Portugal cooperation) Still missing .............. ~€36 million Main destination ........... accounts in China and Hong Kong Remaining funds ............ network of overseas accounts and crypto conversion

A note on rigor: the published figures (€53 million recovered and €36 million missing) don't add up exactly to €95 million, and the sources we reviewed don't explain the gap. The exact amounts may change once official figures are released.

Milan prosecutors are investigating a foreign national living outside Europe for computer fraud. According to the reports, neither Molesini nor other Fideuram executives are under investigation. Molesini stepped down as chairman in March, citing personal reasons.

Core lesson: no firewall failed; a process did. The instruction arrived through an informal channel (WhatsApp), was reinforced by a familiar voice and a sense of urgency, and no additional person had to approve it.

What it means for a company in Guatemala and LATAM

Voice cloning no longer requires nation-state resources: all it takes is a public audio sample from an interview, a webinar, or a corporate video. The "urgent CEO" scam has existed for years, but AI removes the signal that used to give the scammer away: an unfamiliar voice or writing style.

Recommended minimum controls:
1) No transfer or change of bank details is authorized by WhatsApp, phone call, or email; only through a formal workflow.
2) Mandatory dual approval above a set amount, even when the order comes from senior leadership.
3) Call back on a number you already have on file, never the one given in the message.
4) A pre-agreed code word or verification question for urgent financial requests.
5) Regular training for finance staff and executive assistants with cloned-audio examples, and less public executive audio where possible.
If you want to review your company's payment processes against this kind of fraud, write to us at info@guatemalia.com.
Carlos Montiel
Enterprise AI Solutions Architect
Specialist in LLMs, Agents, and Orchestration
guatemalia.com/#contacto · info@guatemalia.com

Need to implement AI in your company?

Carlos Montiel is an enterprise AI solutions architect. He implements LLMs, Agents, RAG, and orchestrators for companies across Guatemala and Latin America. Reach out for a consultation.

Contact Carlos Montiel

info@guatemalia.com