Did you know? Italy's biggest bank lost €95 million to one WhatsApp message and a cloned AI voice

One WhatsApp message. One phone call. The result: €95 million (about US$108 million) gone from an Italian bank. The story is going viral again on social media, and it shows how easily an AI-cloned voice can fool people at the very top of a company.

What happened?

According to Reuters (25 September 2026), citing two sources:

• The victim was Fideuram, the private banking arm of Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest bank.
• The scheme began in February 2026.
• Amount stolen: €95 million.
• About €53 million was recovered, while roughly €36 million is still missing.

How the scammers did it: just 2 steps

1. A WhatsApp message "from the CEO". Scammers sent a message that appeared to come from Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina, asking for urgent help with an overseas transaction.

2. A "lawyer" call with an AI-cloned voice. A follow-up call, supposedly from a senior partner at a prominent law firm, confirmed the instruction. The lawyer's voice was replicated with AI.

The person fooled was then-Fideuram chairman Paolo Molesini. He told the finance department to make a series of transfers to foreign accounts, mainly in China and Hong Kong.

Where did the money go?

• Fideuram quickly detected irregular transfers and alerted banks and authorities in several countries.
• Cooperation between authorities in China, Portugal and Italy recovered part of the money.
• The rest passed through overseas accounts and was converted into cryptocurrency, and hasn't been traced.
• Milan prosecutors are investigating a foreign national living outside Europe for suspected computer fraud.
• Intesa Sanpaolo and Fideuram declined to comment. Molesini resigned in March citing personal reasons, and according to the sources, he is not under investigation.

Did you know? This isn't the first time. Last year, an AI voice mimicking an Italian minister persuaded businessman Massimo Moratti to send nearly €1 million overseas. In 2024, an Arup employee in Hong Kong transferred US$25 million after a Zoom call with deepfaked "executives".

Why does this matter to us?

The "message from the boss" trick is the same one behind the WhatsApp scams going viral in Malaysia. The difference now is that scammers can add a voice that sounds exactly like someone you know. Also read NACSA's warning about WhatsApp .vbs files.

Simple habits that can save your money:

• Call back on a number you already have saved, not the number that called you.
• Be wary of "urgent" and "confidential" requests, especially involving money transfers.
• For companies: make large transfers require more than one approval.
• For families: consider a code word only family members know, for any emergency call asking for money.

If your boss WhatsApps you tonight asking for an urgent transfer, would you call them first?