Crypto: €36M Vanishes After €95M Scam

A fake WhatsApp message, a voice cloned by artificial intelligence, and 95 million euros transferred abroad. This is the scenario of the scam that hit Fideuram, the private banking subsidiary of the Italian giant Intesa Sanpaolo. A large part of the money has since been recovered or frozen. At least 36 million euros, however, were converted to crypto and remain at the center of an international investigation.

€95 Million Diverted, Including €36 Million Converted to Crypto

The case begins in February 2026. Paolo Molesini, then president of Fideuram, receives on WhatsApp a message that seems to come from Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo. The tone is urgent. An international financial operation must be carried out quickly and Fideuram must intervene.

A few months earlier, Chainalysis had already warned about the explosion of crypto scams enhanced by artificial intelligence. The Italian case provides a particularly costly version.

The fake message is not enough. A call follows. On the phone, Molesini believes he recognizes Paolo Nastasi, Italian managing partner of the international firm A&O Shearman. The lawyer is completely unrelated to the case. The scammers are said to have used artificial intelligence tools to reproduce his voice with enough precision to convince the bank executive.

Instructions follow. Fideuram then sends several transfers to foreign accounts, notably in mainland China and Hong Kong. In total, about 95 million euros leave the bank’s coffers.

The trap is eventually discovered and a race begins to block the funds before they are moved further. More than 40 million euros were notably blocked in China. Another amount of 13 million was frozen in Portugal as part of a judicial seizure. The rest took another direction. At least 36 million euros were converted to crypto.

Conversion to Crypto Shifts the Investigation to the Blockchain

The €36 million did not simply vanish after the bank transfers. According to available information, the funds moved through several jurisdictions before being converted into crypto. Investigators are now trying to reconstruct this chain of transactions through mutual legal assistance requests sent to several countries.

Moving to digital assets changes the work of investigators. A bank transfer can often be blocked as long as the money remains in an institution cooperating with authorities. A crypto transaction works differently. Once assets are transferred to a wallet controlled by the fraudsters, no central service can simply cancel the movement.

This does not mean the money automatically becomes invisible. On public blockchains, crypto transactions remain recorded. Investigators can track movements between addresses, identify transfers to exchanges, or link certain wallets to information obtained from platforms subject to KYC rules.

The problem arises when criminals multiply transfers, use different networks, or go through multiple services before attempting to convert the assets. The FBI had already warned about the use of vocal and visual deepfakes to impersonate officials and crypto actors.

Here, AI intervenes even before the blockchain. The synthetic voice serves to obtain the transfer. Crypto is then involved in moving the funds. It’s a particularly effective combination: social engineering initially, traditional banking system to move large sums, then digital assets to complicate recovery.

No verified information confirms that the entire €36 million is still currently in crypto form, nor which specific digital assets were used. Investigators continue to track the money.

AI Also Turns Banking Controls Into a Target

The Fideuram case raises above all an embarrassing question for large financial institutions: what is the value of voice verification when the voice itself can be fabricated? Molesini knew Paolo Nastasi. Hearing a familiar voice was supposed to strengthen the credibility of the operation.

That has become the weak point.

Voice cloning tools have progressed enormously. A few audio samples can now be enough to produce a convincing imitation. For a lawyer, a bank executive, a listed company boss, or a personality regularly appearing in the media, recordings are not lacking.

Fraudsters can then add the rest: spoofed number, fake WhatsApp account, similar email address, fabricated documents, and artificial urgency.

The bank is not accused of having participated in the fraud. Neither is Paolo Molesini. Milan prosecutors are investigating at least one foreign suspect, whose identity itself might not be authentic. Molesini left the presidency of Fideuram on March 12 citing personal reasons. No public element confirms that this resignation amounts to an acknowledgment of responsibility in the case.

Nevertheless, the file remains impressive by its sequence. A WhatsApp message. A cloned voice. €95 million transferred. Then at least €36 million converted into crypto. Banks have long taught their employees not to trust a simple email. With generative AI, even recognizing someone’s voice is no longer necessarily enough.

Cointribune had already mentioned this risk with “audio-jacking,” a technique using AI to manipulate a conversation and replace certain vocal information. However, Fideuram was dealing with an unusual financial operation of €95 million. The amount did not prevent the mechanism from working.