Scammers cloned Italy's defence minister's voice to swindle top tycoons
Fraudsters used an AI-generated voice of Defence Minister Guido Crosetto to call Italian billionaires and demand ransom-style wire transfers.
- What happenedAn AI-generated voice impersonating Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto was used in phone calls to some of Italy's wealthiest business figures, asking them to wire money overseas.
- MethodCallers posed as Crosetto and his staff, claiming funds of about 1 million euros were needed to free kidnapped Italian journalists in the Middle East, with money sent to a Hong Kong account.
What happened
In early February 2025, a scam used an AI-generated voice imitating Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto to call some of the nation's richest people and ask them to transfer money abroad. Reported targets included fashion designer Giorgio Armani, Prada co-founder Patrizio Bertelli, former Inter Milan owner Massimo Moratti, and members of the Beretta and Menarini families.
The callers, posing as the minister and his staff, claimed roughly 1 million euros was needed to free kidnapped Italian journalists and asked that it be wired to a Hong Kong bank account, with a promise of reimbursement by the Bank of Italy. Moratti was the only confirmed victim to pay, transferring close to 1 million euros. Investigators traced the money to a Dutch account and froze it. Crosetto said he chose to publicize the scheme so others would not fall into the trap.
Why it matters
The case shows AI voice cloning moving from novelty to operational fraud aimed at named, high-net-worth targets, layered with caller ID spoofing and a believable cover story tied to a real public official. When a familiar authoritative voice can be synthesized on demand, verification by call-back and out-of-band confirmation becomes essential, because the sound of a voice is no longer proof of who is speaking.
Sources: Euronews · Anadolu Agency. Further reading in the archive trackers.