A Ferrari executive was targeted by an AI-generated deepfake impersonating CEO Benedetto Vigna in an alleged fraud attempt. The scammer, using WhatsApp and a cloned voice, claimed an urgent, secretive financial deal required immediate action. The executive became suspicious after detecting slight artificial intonations; the scam failed when the executive tested the caller by asking about a recent book recommendation.
Curated from incidentdatabase.ai · 26 July 2024 →
July 2024. The messages arrived on WhatsApp from an unknown number carrying Vigna's photograph, describing an acquisition that had to stay confidential, and were followed by a call in a voice with his Southern Italian accent. The executive noticed something slightly wrong in the intonation and asked the caller to name the book Vigna had recommended to him days earlier. The call ended. Set this beside the Arup case, where the same attack succeeded for 25 million dollars: the difference was not detection technology, it was one question whose answer had never been published. That is a control any company can adopt this week and most of the professional guidance since has said exactly this.
