Scammers Impersonated Italian Defense Minister Using AI to Scam Wealthy Entrepreneurs

A new form of ‘technological fraud’ has caused significant concern in recent days. Specifically, a group is reported to have used artificial intelligence tools to mimic the voice of Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, successfully extracting large sums of money. Posing as the Italian Defense Minister and his close collaborators through AI, members of the group contacted well-known entrepreneurs, including Giorgio Armani, Diego Della Valle (founder of a renowned shoe company), and Massimo Moratti, owner of the Inter Milan football team and an oil company. The scammers requested money from all of them, allegedly to pay ransoms for Italian journalists and soldiers kidnapped abroad. They assured their targets that the funds would later be refunded by the Bank of Italy. According to current information, only Massimo Moratti reportedly fell victim, depositing approximately one million euros into an overseas account. The scam was uncovered by the vice president of the Italian Industrial Union, Luiza Aleoti, who personally knows the Italian defense minister and realized that if Crosetto wanted something from her, he wouldn’t use intermediaries to call. Guido Crosetto announced that he will file a complaint tomorrow regarding illegal identity theft and awaits summons from Milan prosecutors to discuss what the entrepreneurs involved in the scheme told him.