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Italy's Financial Information Unit Publishes Guidance on Technology-Enabled Fraud, Money Muling, and Cybercrime
On June 8, 2026, Italy's Financial Information Unit (UIF) published a communication addressing significant growth in technology-enabled fraud, money muling, and cybercrime. The UIF noted that suspicious operation reports (SOS) related to these phenomena increased from approximately 9,000 in 2021 to more than 30,000 in 2025, with the upward trend continuing into 2026. Globally, financial losses from cyber-enabled fraud exceeded 400 billion dollars in 2025, while Italy recorded losses exceeding 269 million euros during the same period.
The UIF identified that fraudulent schemes exploit digital channels, instant payment systems, virtual IBANs, and crypto-assets to facilitate transnational criminal activity. Victims often include vulnerable individuals unfamiliar with digital technologies, though perpetrators increasingly target financially sophisticated persons. The UIF observed complex fraud typologies including romance scams, job scams, investment scams, ransomware campaigns, and synthetic identity fraud. Criminals increasingly employ generative artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets to obscure illicit fund flows. Money muling schemes involve recruiting conscious or unconscious participants to transfer illegally obtained funds through their accounts or payment instruments. Cybercrime encompasses digital intrusions, system compromises, and unauthorised access to credentials and cryptographic keys.
The UIF emphasises that obligated entities must enhance detection quality and reporting timeliness, particularly before transaction execution to protect victims and support investigations. The UIF introduced three new phenomenon codes for suspicious operation reports: I01 for technology-enabled fraud and money laundering; I04 for money muling; and I05 for cybercrime. The previous I02 code for informatic fraud is no longer applicable. Obligated entities must ensure information sharing across departments and provide detailed, structured reporting calibrated to specific case circumstances rather than generic standardised templates.
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Italy's Financial Information Unit Publishes Guidance on Technology-Enabled Fraud, Money Muling, and Cybercrime
On June 8, 2026, Italy's Financial Information Unit (FIU) published a communication addressing significant growth in technology-enabled fraud, money muling, and cybercrime.
The guidance highlights the following:
The FIU identified that fraudulent schemes exploit digital channels, instant payment systems, virtual IBANs, and crypto-assets to facilitate transnational criminal activity. Victims often include vulnerable individuals unfamiliar with digital technologies, though perpetrators increasingly target financially sophisticated persons.
The FIU observed complex fraud typologies including romance scams, job scams, investment scams, ransomware campaigns, and synthetic identity fraud. Criminals increasingly employ generative artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets to obscure illicit fund flows.
The FIU emphasised that obligated entities must enhance detection quality and reporting timeliness, particularly before transaction execution to protect victims and support investigations.
The FIU emphasised that in cases involving activities that concern multiple entities subject to active cooperation obligations, it is important to ensure full information sharing, in accordance with the provisions of Article 39 of Legislative Decree 231/2007 .
The guidance makes the following amendments to reporting procedures, replacing the framework outlining anomalous behaviors related to cyber fraud, issued in the FIU's communication of February 5, 2010 and retiring the code for phenomenon I02—Cyber Fraud:
The FIU provides three new “phenomenon” codes, which recipients should use when completing the report by selecting the one or ones most consistent with the characteristics of the observed transaction: I01 – Technology-facilitated fraud and scams : must be used in cases of suspected fraudulent conduct and related money laundering. I04 – Money mules : must be used in cases of suspicion regarding the recruitment of individuals, whether fully aware or not, to transfer illegally obtained funds, both in the absence of elements constituting a transaction attributable to phenomenon I01 and in conjunction with that phenomenon where the conditions for its application are met. I05 – Cybercrime : must be used in relation to suspicions of cybercrimes not falling under the scenarios described in phenomenon I01 and characterized by the alteration or abuse of computer systems and digital tools and, more generally, by sophisticated compromise techniques aimed at obtaining illicit economic gains.
I01 – Technology-facilitated fraud and scams : must be used in cases of suspected fraudulent conduct and related money laundering.
I04 – Money mules : must be used in cases of suspicion regarding the recruitment of individuals, whether fully aware or not, to transfer illegally obtained funds, both in the absence of elements constituting a transaction attributable to phenomenon I01 and in conjunction with that phenomenon where the conditions for its application are met.
I05 – Cybercrime : must be used in relation to suspicions of cybercrimes not falling under the scenarios described in phenomenon I01 and characterized by the alteration or abuse of computer systems and digital tools and, more generally, by sophisticated compromise techniques aimed at obtaining illicit economic gains.