A woman from France lost more than $800,000 to scammers pretending to be Brad Pitt. The scammers tricked her into believing she was in a relationship with the actor and that he needed money for medical treatment.
According to reports from *The Times*, AFP, and BFM TV, the woman, named Anne, shared her story on French TV channel TF1. However, the interview was later removed due to online ridicule... Continue reading here ▶
Anne explained that it all started when someone claiming to be Brad Pitt’s mother contacted her online, saying, “It’s a woman like you that my son needs.” Though skeptical at first, Anne kept talking to the person, who later posed as Brad Pitt himself.
“At first, I thought it was fake and ridiculous,” Anne said. “But I didn’t know much about social media and didn’t fully understand what was going on.”
The scammers first convinced Anne to pay customs fees for “gifts” from Pitt, and she sent about €10,000 (around $10,500).
Over time, she became emotionally attached to the person she thought was Pitt. “I liked the man I was talking to,” she said. “He knew how to say the right things to women.”
After Anne revealed she had recently divorced, the scammers told her that Pitt had kidney cancer and couldn’t access his bank accounts because of his divorce from Angelina Jolie. They asked her to help, and she ended up sending almost her entire €775,000 ($798,000) divorce settlement.
The scammers even sent Anne fake images of Pitt, generated using AI, showing him in a hospital bed.
When Anne saw news about Pitt dating Ines De Ramon, the scammers denied the relationship, keeping her convinced. Eventually, after doing more research, Anne realized she had been scammed.
Anne has filed a lawsuit, and authorities are now investigating. The TV channel TF1 removed Anne’s interview to shield her from online bullying after she shared her story.
