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A French woman was scammed to pay over $1 million after being convinced she was dating actor Brad Pitt. According to BFM TV, the scammer sent her AI-generated images of the actor, convincing her of his identity.
According to BFM TV, the victim was a 53-year-old French woman who went by Anne. It is understood that she was married to a millionaire at the time of the scam. It all began in February 2023 when she reportedly received a message on Facebook from the scammer, posing as Brad Pitt's mother. Later, she received a text claiming it was Pitt himself, which began the affair.
As per reports by BFM TV, the scammer reportedly asked her to marry him which led her to divorce her millionaire husband. Anne mentioned that she first sent $9000 to the scammer who asked for the money for sending her gifts through customs.
Further, Anne was scammed to send $800,000 that she received through her divorce settlement. The scammer asked for the money to get his alleged kidney cancer treatment. They also sent AI-generated videos of Brad Pitt on a hospital bed to convince her and mentioned that Pitt could not use his own money due to his then-ongoing divorce saga with Angelina Jolie.
Fans on X reacted to the incident, with many finding the details of the scam amusing. One user wrote:
"Romance scams are the cruellest."
"This isn't even like... theres better AI generated images available for free," another user joked.
"she couldn’t have googled “brad pitt hospital”?¿ 😭 there would have been at least 1 article," a fan questioned.
"I’m not even joking when I say I’ve been laughing uncontrollably for 2 maybe 3 min at this point, mainly at the picture at the bottom right," a netizen chimed in.
Fans continued to point out some details they found strange about the scam:
"In this day and age they never do a video call? 😫 I just need to know what reason “Brad” gave for needing the money," a fan quipped.
"Why you need to know what your old folks are up to before they give away your inheritance to Brad Pitt," another netizen added.
"How do scammers like these find this type of woman. Asking for a famous friend in the hospital," another person jibed.
French woman realized she wasn't dating Brad Pitt after seeing the actor with his current girlfriend
According to BFM TV, 53-year-old Anne realized that she was scammed to believe she was dating Brad Pitt after she saw the actor with his current girlfriend, Ines de Ramon. The victim filed a complaint in 2024 and has been under treatment for severe depression at a clinic. The police are yet to find the scammer.
According to Anne, she had only communicated with the scammer through fake text messages as they claimed they were never available for phone calls. However, she received multiple AI-generated images of the actor which convinced her of their identity.
Anne began sending the scammer money when they said they had bought lavish gifts for her. They claimed that they needed $9000 to send the gifts through customs, which the victim sent immediately. Further, the scammers posing as Brad Pitt claimed that the actor was going through treatment for kidney cancer.
To convince Anne, they sent her AI-generated images of Brad Pitt on a surgery bed, in a hospital with various medical equipment, and even an image of the actor holding the paper "I love you Anne." This was after Anne had divorced her millionaire husband and received $800,000 through her settlement. She sent the money to the scammer after believing the story.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time Brad Pitt's identity has been used for an online scam. As reported by Latin Times, five people in Spain were arrested for scamming two women to pay over $330,000.
Meanwhile, Brad Pitt reached a divorce settlement with his ex-wife, Angelia Jolie in December 2024. The couple were married in 2014 after years of dating and share six children. Jolie filed for divorce in 2016 after reportedly accusing Pitt of being abusive to her and two of their children.
The terms of the couple's divorce settlement have not been made public.
