KnowBe4: The rise of AI-driven voice phishing -…
Fraudsters utilized an AI voice clone of Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto to scam prominent business figures out of over 1 million euros
- Incident date
- Sep 2026
- Target
- Guido Crosetto
In early 2026, a sophisticated voice phishing campaign leveraged artificial intelligence to impersonate Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto. By utilizing synthetic voice cloning technology, attackers successfully deceived high-profile individuals, resulting in significant financial losses before authorities intervened.
What happened
Fraudsters created a high-fidelity voice clone of Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto to conduct a targeted vishing operation. The attackers placed high-urgency calls to prominent business figures, including former Inter Milan owner Massimo Moratti. During these calls, the impersonators claimed that emergency funds were urgently required to facilitate the release of journalists who had been kidnapped in the Middle East.
The combination of an authoritative voice and the manufactured sense of crisis coerced victims into transferring funds. The scam was highly effective, successfully extracting over €1 million from targets. The operation continued until law enforcement agencies intervened to stop the illicit activities. This incident highlights the growing threat of AI-driven voice cloning, where attackers can now synthesize realistic voices using minimal audio samples, effectively bypassing traditional trust mechanisms that rely on the human voice for authentication.