The Bank of Italy warned about fake articles, images and videos using AI deepfake technology to impersonate Governor Fabio Panetta endorsing investment platforms for fraudulent purposes.
The Bank of Italy issued a public warning about the circulation of fabricated content featuring Governor Fabio Panetta appearing on television shows and other media contexts, often promoting investment platforms likely intended for fraud. These materials were created using artificial intelligence techniques commonly known as deepfakes, which digitally manipulate audio or video to convincingly imitate real people. The central bank emphasized that none of these contents correspond to reality and that all materials were entirely fabricated. The Bank of Italy has filed a complaint with judicial authorities to protect the public from possible fraud and to safeguard both the institution and the governor's reputation. The bank advised the public to be suspicious of such messages, not to follow any requests that might be made, and to avoid sharing the content. The bank reminded citizens that official communications are only published on their website and institutional social media channels including YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to gain a personal advantage over others such as through cheating, fraud, scams, blackmail or targeted manipulation of beliefs or behavior. Examples include AI-facilitated plagiarism for research or education, impersonating a trusted or fake individual for illegitimate financial benefit, or creating humiliating or sexual imagery.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed
