A French woman who believed she was in a romantic relationship with A-list actor Brad Pitt was scammed out of $855,000 as part of a year-long scheme involving an AI-generated version of the 61-year-old star.
Anne, a 53-year-old French interior designer, detailed her experience in an interview with French television show Seven to Eight on France’s TF1 channel, France 24.
She told the French station that she was first contacted by someone online claiming to be Pitt’s mother, who told her that her son “needed someone like me” and they communicated with each other for more than a year.
“At first I said to myself that it was fake, that it’s ridiculous,” Anne explained on Seven to Eight, according to U.K. paper The Times. “But I’m not used to social media and I didn’t really understand what was happening to me.”
The scammer used AI technology to appear like the Oceans Eleven actor and sent personalized photos and messages, which made her believe the interactions were real. She then sent €10,000 (nearly C$14,794) when they asked her to pay customs tariffs so she could receive gifts he claimed to have sent her.
After reportedly telling the person she was speaking to that she recently divorced her husband, Anne ended up sending almost all of her divorce settlement of around €775,000 (C$1,146,469) to the scammer after he alleged he needed a kidney treatment and needed a loan because he was unable to access his bank accounts as a result of his ongoing divorce proceedings with ex-wife, Angelina Jolie.
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Anne was sent AI-generated images of Pitt in hospital beds to help verify his identity. She also claimed that she divorced her husband so she could continue pursuing her relationship with Pitt.
“I was in love with the man I was chatting to,” she said on Seven to Eight, according to The Guardian. “He knew how to speak to a woman.”
She only realized what she had done after she saw the news of Pitt’s relationship with Ines de Ramon, which led to her filing a police report over the AI scam.
“I ask myself why they chose me to do such harm like this?” she told Seven to Eight. “I’ve never harmed anyone. These people deserve hell.”
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After the episode aired on Sunday night, TF1 pulled it from further circulation due to all the memes and cyberbullying that began as a result of the information she shared.
“The story broadcast this Sunday has resulted in a wave of harassment against the witness,” TFI presenter Harry Roselmack posted on X on Tuesday. “For the protection of victims, we have decided to withdraw it from our platforms.
A spokesperson for Pitt released a statement following the news of the romantic scam involving the likeness of the actor.
“It’s awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities,” a spokesperson for Pitt said in a statement. “But this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.”
This isn’t the first time there has been a romance scam involving Pitt. Last September, five people were arrested in Spain following an online romance scam centred around the actor.
Two women were conned out of over €350,000 (C$487,800) after they were contacted through an online fan page dedicated to Pitt and posed as the Fight Club actor.
The scammers had convinced the two victims that they were Pitt through various instant messages and emails, leading the women to believe they were in romantic relationships with the actor. Then, they’d ask for money to invest in phony commercial projects allegedly involving Pitt.
Authorities revealed that the five suspects were charged with fraud and money laundering and Spain’s Interior Ministry reported it was able to recover €85,000 (C$127,600) of the original sum lost by the two victims.
—with files from Global News
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