Italian minister Guido Crosetto has joked that fake copies exist of all masterpieces, after alerting the public to the scheme
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has declared his voice a “masterpiece,” after discovering that scammers used AI to impersonate him last week in a reported attempt to solicit funds from the country’s wealthiest business people.
Crosetto first alerted the public to the ongoing scam on Thursday in a post on X, warning that several prominent figures had been approached by imposters.
The scammers reportedly aimed to capitalize on a recent high-profile prisoner exchange with Iran, during which Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was released. The AI-generated “Crosetto” claimed urgent funding was needed to pay ransom for other reporters supposedly held in the Middle East, framing it as a matter of national security.
Notable targets of the scheme included some of Italy’s wealthiest individuals, such as fashion icon Giorgio Armani, Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli, the Aleotti family, owners of the pharmaceutical giant Menarini Group, and the Beretta family, known for firearms manufacturing, according to Italian media.
While most attempts by the fake “minister” were unsuccessful, billionaire Massimo Moratti, former owner of Inter Milan football club, revealed to La Repubblica that he had wired an undisclosed sum after being contacted.
Crosetto shared some jokes he was told about the situation, noting a suggestion from a friend that he could take solace in the fact that “fake copies of all masterpieces circulate.”
Italian police have yet to identify any suspects. Crosetto said that one of the impostors introduced himself as “Giovanni Montalbano”, a name resembling the title of a popular Italian police procedural series, The Young Montalbano.
Advancements in technology, including generative algorithms capable of real-time voice cloning and cryptocurrencies, have made scams easier and safer for criminals. The NGO Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) estimated that losses from online and phone schemes exceed $1 trillion annually, with most funds remaining unrecovered.
