Although artificial intelligence (“AI”) has the potential to change the world for the better, this technology can also be used to harm humanity. In February, 2026, scammers allegedly defrauded Fideuram, an Italian private-banking subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo, of roughly €95 million by impersonating the parent company’s Chief Executive Officer online, including supporting their instructions for the victim to allegedly wire funds using an AI-cloned voice of a prominent lawyer during a phone call. They also created emails that mimicked the lawyer’s firm to further deceive the victim into acting. €36 million euros remain missing after being converted into cryptocurrency. Because even a familiar voice or a convincing message can no longer be trusted on its own, Astanehe Law has adopted one simple, non-negotiable rule that removes the guesswork entirely.
In the AI-era, Astanehe Law will never ask for any of the following information from you over the telephone, via email, via text message, instant messaging platform, video conference platform (Zoom), social media (We do not use social media), workplace collaboration tools (Slack, etc.), or via facsimile (“fax”):
- Social security number;
- Bank account information;
- Credit card information, including the account number, card number, expiration dates, CVV codes;
- Debit card information, including the account number, card number, expiration dates, CVV codes;
- Tax Identification numbers (EIN, ITIN);
- IRS e-file PIN;
- Digital payment accounts (PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, CashApp), unless directly relevant to your case;
- Investment, brokerage, or retirement account numbers;
- Usernames and passwords for any account, especially banking or email accounts;
- One-time passcodes or multifactor authentication codes for any of your accounts;
- Immigration documents or alien registration documents, unless directly relevant to your case;
- Tax returns, W-2s, 1099s, and wage statements, unless directly relevant to your case;
- Cryptocurrency wallet addresses, private keys, or seed phrases, unless directly relevant to your case;
- Biometric data (fingerprints, facial scans, etc.), unless directly relevant to your case;
- Family member’s or dependent’s social security numbers;
- Life insurance policy numbers and beneficiary designations;
- Safe deposit box numbers and locations;
- Requests to take remote access of your computer, phone, or tablet;
- Any financial account pin number; and,
- Any action involving money or access that changes what we have agreed to on our fully executed representation agreement.
Please note that we have a firm policy of never wiring settlement funds or sending electronic funds transfers. We tender all settlement payments via check form our IOLTA account. If you ever receive a request for any of the information listed above — by telephone, email, text message, or any other channel — do not respond, do not provide any information, and do not act on the request. Instead, end the communication and call our office directly at the direct line I will provide you during the representation (We update our direct number periodically for precisely this reason.).
Please be aware that no court deadline, settlement deadline, or emergency will ever justify a departure from this policy. Cybercriminals create urgency and secrecy to bypass ordinary caution; we will not. Accordingly, any communication that urges immediate action, requests confidentiality, or discourages verification should be presumed fraudulent and reported to our office without delay.