A Frenchwoman has reportedly lost a significant amount of money after being deceived into believing she was in a relationship with actor Brad Pitt.
The scammer allegedly convinced the 53-year-old interior designer, Anne, to hand over 830,000 euros ($850,000) under the guise that it was for Pitt’s ‘cancer treatment,’ as reported by BFM TV.
This fraudulent scheme began in February 2023, when Anne was on a ski trip. After posting photos of her vacation on Instagram, she received a message from someone posing as Pitt’s mother.
The following day, Anne received another message from an account pretending to be Brad Pitt himself.
Anne was left ‘flabbergasted’ by these interactions and, despite initial doubts, decided to trust the account based on the convincing way the scammer communicated, as she explained to the French media channel, TF1.
Although the scammer avoided phone and video calls, AI-generated images and videos of Pitt convinced Anne that she was indeed interacting with the actor.
The interactions led to a relationship, a marriage proposal, and promises of luxurious gifts from brands like Chanel and Hermès.
The catch was that Anne needed to pay customs fees to receive these gifts, leading her to spend 9,000 euros without receiving anything in return.
At the time, Anne was married to a millionaire nearly 20 years her senior. After divorcing him, she confided in her ‘friend’ about her situation, including her substantial divorce settlement.
The fraudster then requested financial assistance for supposed medical bills related to kidney cancer, claiming their bank accounts were frozen due to an ongoing divorce with Angelina Jolie.
To persuade Anne, AI-generated images of Pitt apparently in a hospital bed were sent, with one image depicting the actor holding a note reading: “Anne I love you.”
It wasn’t until the summer of 2024 that Anne realized the account was not Pitt’s after reading about his new girlfriend, Ines de Ramon, in the news.
By then, Anne had lost nearly one million euros to the scammer and subsequently reported the incident to the police.
According to BFM TV, Anne has been hospitalized for severe depression, and it is unclear if she has managed to recover any of the lost funds.
Social media users on Twitter have expressed their sympathy for the victim. One user commented: “Romance scams are the cruellest. It’s funny until you realize, more often than not it’s a vulnerable person that just wanted to be loved.”
Another added: “They are so mean and it’s awful that people make fun of the people who fall for them. Exploiting someone’s desire to be loved is obscene.”
UK police data on romance fraud suggests victims are often lonely, widowed, recently bereaved, have undergone a recent breakup, and/or suffer from depression.
Surrey Police notes that this method is one of the ‘fastest growing crimes affecting the vulnerable,’ with financial losses so significant that victims may deny the situation and are less likely to report it themselves.