Woman Loses Life Savings in Brad Pitt Scam
LOVE SCAM – A French woman named Anne lost $850,000 in a heartbreaking scam after believing she was in a relationship with Hollywood star Brad Pitt. Sharing her story on TF1’s Seven to Eight program, Anne detailed how scammers duped her using fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, supported by AI-generated images, to impersonate Pitt convincingly.
The scammers preyed on Anne’s emotions, telling her that Pitt needed financial help for kidney treatment and that his accounts were frozen due to divorce proceedings with Angelina Jolie. Over 18 months, Anne, a 53-year-old interior decorator dealing with mental health issues, transferred her life savings, thinking she was aiding someone she cared about. The truth came to light only when she read about Pitt’s actual relationship with Ines de Ramon.
During the interview, Anne was visibly shaken, openly sharing personal photos and recounting her painful experience. The broadcast sparked widespread reactions, with some ridiculing her for being fooled, while others criticized the network for not shielding someone in a fragile state from public exposure.
The story resonated across social media, where even entities like Toulouse Football Club and Netflix France made light-hearted references involving Brad Pitt. Despite the humor, Anne’s case highlighted the serious and growing threat of online romantic scams, exacerbated by advancements in AI that make it easier to create realistic yet fake personas.
Anne’s nightmare began innocently enough, with a message from someone claiming to be Pitt’s mother shortly after she started using Instagram during a family ski trip. The impersonator suggested that her son needed a supportive figure like Anne. Soon after, the scammers, posing as Pitt himself, reconnected, slowly weaving an intricate web of lies.
Initially doubtful, Anne eventually got entangled in their elaborate ruse, unable to separate truth from fiction. Reflecting on the ordeal, she expressed deep confusion and anger, wondering why she was targeted and lamenting the extensive harm caused. She concluded by expressing hope that the perpetrators would face justice for the devastation they wrought on her life.