Someone used artificial intelligence to imitate Benedetto Vigna’s voice and attempt to defraud Ferrari.
Even a giant like Ferrari can nearly fall victim to criminals using artificial intelligence.
You may have received text messages on WhatsApp from someone claiming to be a relative writing from a different phone number, saying they lost their smartphone. This is a very common scam in 2024, and it has targeted even a company like Ferrari.
Bloomberg reported a particular incident involving an executive of the Prancing Horse (his identity was not disclosed). At the beginning of July, he began receiving a series of messages on WhatsApp from a person claiming to be Benedetto Vigna, the company’s CEO.
From the start, the executive noticed something was off. The profile picture and phone number were not the same as Vigna’s, although it showed him with his arms crossed in front of the Prancing Horse emblem.
The first messages asked the executive “if he knew about the acquisition we’re preparing” and requested him “to be ready to sign the confidentiality agreement that our lawyers will send him.” The supposed CEO said there was some urgency after establishing the situation’s authenticity. He added that they had already alerted the Italian market regulator and the Milan Stock Exchange. “Maintain the utmost discretion,” the message concluded, as reported by Bloomberg.
A voice call from the same number then urged him to perform a currency hedge operation. The tone and accent (Benedetto Vigna is originally from Basilicata) sounded just like the Ferrari CEO. In reality, it wasn’t an imitation but rather a voice generated by artificial intelligence to impersonate his identity.
However, the executive noticed that the voice was too mechanical, raising suspicions that it was a fraudster. He then asked the caller to identify himself by answering a security question that only the real Benedetto Vigna could know: the name of the book he had recommended to him a few days earlier.
At that point, the call was abruptly cut off. It was clear that the person on the other end of the line was not Benedetto Vigna.
Ferrari is just one of many companies targeted by attempted fraud using artificial intelligence. Last February, it happened to a large multinational in Hong Kong. In that case, however, the company was deceived, losing nearly $24 million.
Leave a Reply