A “fake minister” tried in vain to scam Giorgio Armanicon a deepfake

It appears that an elaborate scam has targeted Italy’s business elite, inadvertently involving the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto. In recent weeks, several prominent business leaders – including Giorgio Armani, Patrizio Bertelli, and Diego Della Valle – have been contacted by individuals posing as the Minister’s associates, requesting large sums of money for alleged ransom payments to free journalists reportedly held hostage in conflict zones in the Middle East, following the events surrounding journalist Cecilia Sala in early January. According to initial reports, the criminals cloned phone numbers with a Rome prefix, including contacts from the Minister’s staff, and used artificial intelligence to mimic Crosetto’s voice and his entourage's. The scammers aimed to persuade entrepreneurs to transfer funds to foreign bank accounts – reportedly in Hong Kong – with the promise that the Bank of Italy would later reimburse the amount. The first to publicly acknowledge falling victim to the scheme was Massimo Moratti, former president of Inter Milan, who told Il Sole 24 Ore that everything seemed completely authentic and that it could have happened to anyone. According to WWD, the potential victims of the scam included the Del Vecchio family (EssilorLuxottica), Beretta, Caltagirone, Aleotti (Menarini), and Marco Tronchetti Provera (Pirelli), some of whom have already filed complaints with the Milan Prosecutor's Office. Minister Crosetto himself took to his official X profile to urge caution, publicly acknowledging the investigation.

Investigations have uncovered further details thanks to the vigilance of several corporate secretariats, as reported by Today.it. In the case of Menarini, an alleged assistant of the Minister contacted the company’s executive office, referring to “national security matters” and suggesting «the Republic will be grateful» in exchange for immediate assistance. However, since Luisa Aleotti – vice president of Confindustria – could easily reach Crosetto directly, her team grew suspicious and immediately alerted the Aleotti brothers, who promptly filed a complaint in Florence. A similar situation occurred with designer Giorgio Armani, whose secretariat requested a formal written request from the Ministry, which never arrived, effectively halting the scam attempt. The Gussalli Beretta family also quickly identified the scheme, as their holding company’s president, Pietro, personally knows the Minister, having met him during Crosetto’s tenure as head of Aiad (the Federation of Italian Aerospace, Defense, and Security Companies). Authorities are now tracing the financial transactions already carried out, which appear to move through multiple countries before reaching offshore tax havens, fueling suspicions of a large-scale international fraud network. The latest updates indicate that even the Minister himself is preparing to report the case in court.