The scammer who posed as Brad Pitt to obtain €830,000 (£697,000) from a French woman has reportedly been identified and they may not have acted alone.
The victim, named Anne, was fooled into sending money to the individual(s), pretending to be the Fight Club star, 61.
Anne said she was going through a difficult moment with her husband at the time and felt she could confide in whoever she was talking to, according to French channel TF1 (via BFM TV).
Those behind the account asked for money for cancer treatment and sent AI-images of ‘Brad Pitt‘ to trick newly divorced Anne into sending them thousands in 2023.
Now, the founder of ‘Find My Scammer’ has reportedly tracked down the people who scammed Anne and 33 others.
“It wasn’t easy, I had to put all my teams on the spot to find him quickly,” Marwan Ouarab told 20 Minutes.
On how he managed to identify the scammers, he explained: “We sent him a trap link disguised in a message, and by clicking on it he gave us access to his phone without knowing it.
“It is a small group, of three or four quite young people that does damage. On the fake Brad Pitt’s device alone, there were 34 victims.
“He was also able to trace the funds paid by Anne, in particular dispatched by the scammer in cryptocurrency wallets.
“Today, he is still active, except that he now pretends to be Keanu Reeves. We don’t know if they will act, but he has other options.”
Ouarab is planning to hand the Ivory Coast-based individual(s) over to the authorities.
“In theory, we could also go and recover some of the stolen money ourselves, but this could only bring problems for us and Anne,” he added.
Anne, who appears to be one of many victims, said: “In fact, we’re talking about Brad Pitt, I’m falling from the clouds.
“At first, I tell myself it’s fake, but I don’t really understand what’s happening to me. After that, we will contact each other every day and we become friends.”
After chatting for months, she reportedly agreed to marry the person or people behind the account, who also promised to send her luxury bags from Chanel and Hermès.
Pitt’s representatives have since addressed the situation in a statement, which read: “It’s awful that scammers take advantage of the strong bond between fans and celebrities.
“This is an important reminder not to respond to unsolicited online messages, especially from actors who are not present on social networks.”
Anne is reportedly in a hospital clinic with severe depression, according to BFM TV.
LADbible Group has contacted Keanu Reeves’ representatives for comment.
