Fideuram AI scam: How did €39.5M vanish into crypto?

Fideuram has lost at least €36 million from a February 2026 impersonation scam that triggered roughly €95 million in overseas transfers, with investigators now tracing part of the missing money into Bitcoin wallets.

Corriere della Sera reported that then-chairman Paolo Molesini received a WhatsApp message appearing to come from Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina, followed by a call using what the newspaper described as an AI-generated version of a lawyer’s voice. Fideuram is the private banking arm of Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest banking group.

Italian Private Banking Giant Fideuram Hit by AI Voice Scam, at Least €36 Million Converted Into Crypto

According to the Italian media outlet Milano, in February 2026, former Fideuram Chairman Paolo Molesini received a WhatsApp message impersonating Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa… pic.twitter.com/SHmSBzLJY8

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 2, 2026

More recent court details put the amount still missing at €39.5 million, while earlier reports referred to at least €36 million converted into crypto. The difference comes from figures disclosed at different stages of the investigation and recovery process.

How did the Fideuram AI scam work?

The fraud began on Feb. 23 when Molesini received a WhatsApp message from someone claiming to be Messina. The number was not one Molesini recognized, but the sender presented the request as a confidential acquisition involving an international bank, according to court documents summarized by ANSA.

ANSA reported that the purported Messina told Molesini a direct Intesa purchase was not possible because a leak could lead Italy’s securities regulator, Consob, to stop the deal. Fideuram was presented as the vehicle needed to complete the transaction.

A second contact then appeared to come from Paolo Nastasi, managing partner of A&O Shearman Italia and a lawyer Molesini knew. Nastasi had no involvement in the scheme. Reports based on the investigation say the caller’s voice had been reproduced using artificial intelligence.

Emails designed to resemble communications from the law firm supplied payment instructions and foreign account details. Molesini received documents including a confidentiality agreement and an apparent special power of attorney bearing Messina’s signature.

The fraudsters did not rely on one communication channel. Investigators say Fideuram’s treasury and payments manager received a separate call from a person posing as a senior Fideuram executive and was told that Molesini would authorize urgent confidential payments.

Eleven transfers totaling close to €95 million were ultimately sent abroad between Feb. 23 and Feb. 25, with substantial amounts routed to accounts in China and Portugal.

Where did the missing Fideuram money go?

Fideuram detected the fraud quickly enough to stop or recover much of the original transfer amount.

ANSA reported that approximately €42 million sent to China was blocked and returned, while Italian investigators secured more than €13 million held at a Portuguese bank. A Milan judge authorized the Portuguese seizure following cooperation with authorities there.

Corriere’s earlier account placed the Chinese recovery near €40 million. Reuters reported that roughly €53 million had been recovered overall and around €36 million remained unaccounted for at the time of publication.

Court documents cited in later Italian reporting put the unresolved amount at €39.5 million. At least part of that money had already moved through foreign accounts and into crypto-linked channels before banks could freeze it.

Investigators have since reconstructed one chain involving roughly €4 million. Corriere reported that those funds passed through accounts in Malta, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, then through a Canadian money-transfer platform before reaching two Bitcoin wallets.

The reporting links those wallets to a person now under investigation, but no court has established who ultimately controlled the funds or whether the identified individual participated in the original impersonation scheme.

Who is being investigated over the Fideuram scam?

Milan prosecutors are investigating a 48-year-old Israeli citizen as a suspected member of the group involved in the fraud.

The individual was linked to one of the foreign accounts through which approximately €4 million passed before reaching the two Bitcoin wallets, according to Corriere. Investigators have not publicly named him.

Italian authorities are still trying to establish whether the identity documents tied to the suspect correspond to a real person or another identity used to hide the people behind the transactions. International judicial requests are being used to obtain banking, payment-platform and crypto information from other jurisdictions.

Molesini himself is not under investigation. Corriere reported that Fideuram had not brought legal proceedings against him over the incident.

Fideuram announced his departure on March 12. ANSA reported that he resigned as chairman of both Fideuram and Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking for “personal reasons,” with Tommaso Corcos taking over the chairman’s functions.

The resignation came several weeks after the February transfers, though the company’s March announcement did not publicly connect his departure to the fraud.

AI voice scams are hitting executives and crypto users

Milan prosecutors are investigating other fraud cases that reportedly used similar combinations of fake emails, impersonation and voice cloning.

ANSA reported that another bank manager was tricked into authorizing almost €24 million in transfers during May. Around €20 million was later recovered, with funds traced through Spain, Singapore, Hong Kong and Bahrain. The investigations remain separate.

Another case involving a smaller institution concerned roughly €2 million, part of which investigators recovered in Croatia. Italian prosecutors have said the cases use similar social-engineering techniques but have not established publicly that the same group carried them out.

AI impersonation has appeared repeatedly in crypto-related fraud. In related coverage, Ripple users were targeted with deepfake videos and AI-generated voices impersonating company executives in schemes designed to persuade victims to send digital assets.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao has separately warned about AI-generated impersonation campaigns using fake images and executive identities.

Italy has tightened monitoring around crypto transfers for a different compliance reason. The Bank of Italy recently told crypto service providers to apply sanctions screening without transaction-value thresholds, under rules requiring checks on every crypto transfer.

For the Fideuram case, investigators are continuing international requests to banks, payment companies and authorities in countries through which the missing funds passed. The Milan inquiry is still working to establish who controlled the foreign accounts and whether the identity linked to the two Bitcoin wallets belongs to the person named in the investigation.