Scammers used an artificial intelligence voice tool to impersonate Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and his staff in an attempt to persuade some of the nation’s top businessmen to wire money overseas.
Prada SpA co-Chief Executive Officer Patrizio Bertelli, fashion designer Giorgio Armani, Pirelli & C. SpA Executive Vice Chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera and billionaire Massimo Moratti, former owner of the Inter Milan football club, were among those targeted, according to reports by Italian newspapers La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera and others.
The attempted scam revolved around a request to contribute to ransoms for Italian citizens imprisoned or kidnapped in Iran and Syria. The ruse followed shortly after the liberation of Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist who was held in a Tehran prison and freed in mid-January.
Moratti confirmed to La Repubblica that he wired an unspecified amount of money after being contacted.
Crosetto flagged on the X social media platform on Thursday that he was aware scammers had contacted "a great entrepreneur,” among others, asking for money. The minister said he had informed the police and the judiciary about the matter.
Audio deepfakes are increasingly being used to induce wealthy individuals and corporate executives to wire money. In July, Bloomberg News reported that a Ferrari NV executive had been contacted by a scammer impersonating Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna and asked to prepare a large sum of money to transfer for a deal in China. The call raised suspicions and the attempted fraud averted. – Bloomberg
