Brad Pitt discussed the news of a woman in France who was scammed out of more than $800,000 by someone pretending to be him using AI.
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The woman, known as Anne, was led to believe she was in a relationship with Pitt and was scammed into paying €830,000 (£700,000) to help him pay his medical expenses. This lasted for a year and a half, during which Anne was tricked into believing that Pitt needed cancer treatment because his accounts had been frozen during divorce proceedings from Angelina Jolie.
Anne was first contacted in February 2023 after joining Instagram to share photos from a ski holiday in the French Alps. She was contacted by an account claiming to be Pitt’s mother Jane, who began chatting with her and suggested she would be a good match for her son. Then, a person posing as the actor contacted her to find out more about her.
The person operating the fake Pitt account used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as AI-generated selfies and other messages, including poems, songs and an apparent copy of Pitt’s passport.
She only realized that she had been the victim of a scam when she saw photos this summer of the actor with his partner, Inés de Ramon.
In response to this, a Pitt spokesperson said: “It’s horrible that scammers are taking advantage of the strong connection between fans and celebrities.
“This is an important reminder not to respond to unsolicited messages online, especially from those who do not have a social media presence.”
Police are now investigating the scam, which left Anne in hospital with depression. She realized she was being scammed in the summer of 2024, when the real Pitt was spotted with his new partner, jewelry designer Ines de Ramon.
As for the real Pitt, he and Jolie reached a divorce agreement in late December, eight years after Jolie filed to end their marriage citing irreconcilable differences.
