Unlock the Digest of the editor for free
The business elite of Italy has been roasted by a scam that used an voice generated by artificial intelligence that simulates the Italian defense minister Guido Crosetto to ask Tycoons to pour millions to overseas bank accounts to pay off to free Italian journalists who are overseas Kidnapped.
The scammer was aimed at some of the most powerful business barons in Italy, including Pirelli chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera, fashion designer Giorgio Armani, Prada co-founder Patrizio Bertelli, Tod’s owner Dielle Valle, former Inter Milan-owner and members of the miljardair Beretta en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini en Menarini. Families, a person with knowledge of the investigation said.
Although many were immediately suspicious, at least one was persuaded to transfer € 1 million to overseas bank accounts, after he was falsely reassured that he would later be reimbursed by the Bank of Italy for payment. So far, three Milanese business people have filed formal complaints to the office of the public prosecutor, including someone who fell victim to the scam.
Authorities who are familiar with the case say that the fraud has several rounds of calls from people who occur as Crosetto’s staff and the apparent use of AI to convincingly simulate Crosetto’s voice. Goals were told that the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni needed their help to save Italian journalists who have been kidnapped in the middle.
“The voice of the minister was reproduced,” said an official from the Ministry of Defense. “It asked for money to pay ransom for Italian journalists who have been kidnapped in the world. The fake Crosetto said: “I can’t pay with ministry money, but you get the money back from Italy’s bank.” It was a hoax. It wasn’t true. “
Researchers said the calls seemed to come from telephone numbers of the staff of the Minister of Defense – of which they believed they were cloned.
The Scammers Moved Just Week after Meloni’s Government Negotiated A High-Profile Hostage Swap in which a Young Italian Journalist, Cecilia Sala, was Freed from Tehran’s Notorious Evin Prison, in Exchange for a for a iranian Engineer Advanced American drone technology for the revolutionary guards of Iran.
For the first time, Crosetto sounded the alarm of “a serious constant scam” in a social media post last week, and said he wanted to make the public aware, so that “no one is in the risk of falling into the fall”.
The minister said that he discovered the fraud for the first time after he had been contacted by a prominent entrepreneur he had not met before and who had transferred a large amount to a bank account detailed by a fake “General Giovanni Montalbano” after he spoke to someone That the businessman was convinced was Crosetto himself.
Crosetto said that he later received calls from various other top entrepreneurs who had been contacted by people who claimed to be a member of his staff who tried to organize the rescue of Italian journalists in the middle.
The Bank of Italy warned on Friday that fraudsters wrongly used his name and logo to promise that the Central Bank would reimburse money that rich entrepreneurs invested as contributions to the fake rescue scheme.
“Banca d’Italia is in no way related to one of these requests,” said the statement, because it warned people not to respond and report such overtures to relevant authorities.
The business elite of Italy is not the first to be the target of scams that hunt for rich individuals who would like to give discrete favors for a government who wants to save hostages.
A decade ago in France, more than 150 managers, heads of state, ambassadors and religious leaders were contacted in a daring scam then a man who then claimed to be the French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian, millions of euros for the best government of the Secret requested operations, including the freeing of French journalists who were hostage in Syria.
Although most were something missing, the scammers managed to collect $ 85 million, including almost $ 20 million from the late Aga Khan, leader of the Ismaili Muslims in the world. The leader Gilbert Chikli, a Franco-Israelian, was convicted of several counts of fraud in 2020 and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Additional reporting by Giuliana Ricozzi