What happened to woman who left her millionaire husband for an “AI Brad Pitt”

Tengrinews.kz - The story of a French woman who believed in an affair with Brad Pitt and gave 830,000 euros to scammers turned into not only a financial collapse for the woman but also public shame: a wave of ridicule on the Internet forced the TV channel to take the program about her off the air, according to The Guardian.

A 53-year-old interior designer named Anne found herself under fire on social media and even became the heroine of a satirical parody on one of the most popular French radio shows. All this happened after her candid interview on the Seven to Eight program on TF1.

Anne spoke about her more than a year-long online relationship with a man she mistook for Brad Pitt. According to her, she was sure that there was true love between them. When "Pitt" told her that he needed money for cancer treatment because his accounts were frozen due to his divorce from Angelina Jolie, she did not hesitate to transfer a large sum.

Anne only realized she had been the victim of a carefully planned scam this summer when the media published photos of the actor with his new partner Ines de Ramon.

"I ask myself why they chose me to do such harm like this. I’ve never harmed anyone. These people deserve hell," she said.

How the scammers tricked Anne

The scam began when Anne started an Instagram account to post photos from her holiday in the French Alps. She was contacted by a woman who introduced herself as Brad Pitt’s mother. The fake account assured Anne that she would be the perfect match for her son, and soon the woman was contacted from another account, allegedly by the actor himself.

The scammers, using fake accounts and artificial intelligence technology on WhatsApp, sent photos allegedly taken by Pitt, as well as poems, messages, and even a copy of his passport.

Anne believed in a romantic relationship, and after "Pitt" told about frozen accounts and asked for money for treatment, she transferred hundreds of thousands of euros to the scammers. Only in the summer, after seeing real photos of the actor with his partner in the media, Anna realized that she had become a victim of fraud.

Now she has filed a police report to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Divorce for the sake of a star

According to French media, Anne was married to a millionaire and lived a luxurious life until she decided to register on social networks. It was there that "Brad Pitt's mother" contacted her, convincing her that the actor needed a woman like her. After that, Anne began communicating with someone who pretended to be the actor himself.

Anne, who had been going through a crisis in her relationship with her husband for a long time, at some point felt that her life had found meaning and eventually decided to give it all up for "Brad Pitt." She believed that her romance with the movie star was real. Messages with affectionate words quickly turned into a marriage proposal.

Then came the first gift – jewelry and luxury bags. However, to receive the parcel, Anne had to pay 5000 euros for customs expenses. She took this money from the compensation she received when she divorced her husband.

Jokes on the Internet

The topic of Anne's gullibility has become the subject of many jokes on social networks. Thus, the football club "Toulouse" published a post on X "Brad told us he'd be at the stadium on Wednesday" before the upcoming match, but soon deleted the message and apologized.

French football club Toulouse FC had to apologize after they trolled her with this post
“Hello Anne, Brad told us he’d be here on Wednesday for #TFCLAV (Toulouse FC vs Laval).
And you?

See you on Wednesday 👋” pic.twitter.com/IzxUoOZXva

— LogKa (@LogKa11) January 14, 2025

Netflix France also got involved, placing an ad: "four films to see with Brad Pitt (really) for free."

Brad Pitt's reaction

According to The Guardian, Brad Pitt's representative commented on the incident: "It's awful that scammers take advantage of the strong bond between fans and celebrities."

The actor's representative, commenting on the viral story of the scam, emphasized that such cases serve as an important reminder not to trust unsolicited online messages, especially if they purport to come from actors who are not active on social media.

Who is fake "Brad Pitt"

According to Daily Mail, a scammer posing as the famous actor Brad Pitt has been caught in Nigeria. Thanks to the efforts of Marwan Ouarab, the founder of the Find My Scammer website, the scammer was identified.

He used fake images and traps in the form of links to gain access to the scammers' devices. As a result of the investigation, the address where the scammer continued his scams was found.

"It's a small group of three or four fairly young people who are causing damage. On the fake Brad Pitt's device alone, we counted 34 victims," ​​Ouarab said about the scammers.

Ouarab noted that the group of young people began to process new victims, posing as another famous actor - Keanu Reeves. Ouarab noted that the group of young people began to process new victims, posing as another famous actor - Keanu Reeves.

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