Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- According to Bloomberg, there was a recent incident in Italy that utilized aAIVoice tools implementationScamsThe incident. Fraudsters disguised as Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and members of his team tried to convince some of Italy's top entrepreneurs to send money overseas.
According to Italian media outlets such as La Repubblica and Corriere Della Sera, Prada SpA co-CEO Patrizio Bertelli, fashion designer Giorgio Armani, Pirelli & C. SpA Executive Vice Chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera, and former Inter Milan FC owner and billionaire Massimo Moratti, were among those to be honored. SpA executive vice president Marco Tronchetti Provera, and billionaire Massimo Moratti, former owner of Inter Milan soccer club, were all targeted.
The pretext for this scam was to ask victims to pay ransom for Italian citizens imprisoned or kidnapped in Iran and Syria. The scam comes shortly after the release of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala. Sala was previously held in a Tehran prison and released in mid-January.
Moratti confirmed to La Repubblica that he had indeed wired an undisclosed amount of money after receiving a fraudulent phone call.1AI notes that Italian Defense Minister Crocetto took to social media platform X to say that he was aware of fraudsters contacting "a prominent entrepreneur" and others for money, and that he had informed the police and the judiciary about the matter. He also said he had informed the police and the judiciary about the matter.
In recent years, deep audio forgery techniques have been increasingly used in scams to lure wealthy individuals and corporate executives into sending money offshore.2024 In July, Bloomberg News reported that a Ferrari NV executive received a fraudulent phone call from a person masquerading as Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna, asking him to prepare a large sum of money for a transaction in China.2025 In July, Bloomberg News reported that Ferrari NV had received a fraudulent phone call from a person masquerading as Chief Executive Officer Benedetto Vigna asking him to prepare a large sum of money for a transaction in China. The caller, posing as CEO Benedetto Vigna, asked him to prepare a large sum of money to be used for transactions in China. The attempt was ultimately thwarted because of the suspicion aroused by the call.