A woman in France fell victim to an elaborate scam by someone pretending to be Hollywood star Brad Pitt. The scammer used AI-generated images of the Fight Club actor, showing him in a hospital, to trick the woman into believing he was seriously ill.
The victim, a 53-year-old interior designer named Anne, was duped into thinking that Pitt needed money for kidney treatment. The scammer convinced her that he couldn’t access his bank account due to a lengthy and bitter divorce from Angelina Jolie, which was only recently finalized.
Anne explained to Page Six how the scam started when someone pretending to be Pitt’s mother, Jane, contacted her, asking for money to help save her son’s life. At first, Anne was skeptical, thinking it sounded ridiculous, but her unfamiliarity with social media made her unsure of what was really going on.
After receiving multiple messages from the fake account, Anne became more convinced that it was truly Brad Pitt reaching out for help. So much so, that she eventually divorced her husband, thinking she could eventually meet the actor in person. It wasn’t until she saw reports about Pitt’s real-life relationship with Ines de Ramon that she realized she had been scammed.
Anne, devastated by the situation, expressed regret, saying, “I’ve never harmed anyone. These people deserve hell.” She was scammed out of her life savings, all because of an incredibly convincing and deceitful scheme.