A woman that was tricked into transferring £700,000 to someone claiming to be Brad Pitt has recalled when she started to have doubts over their interactions.
The story first broke yesterday on French news channel TF1 about the 53-year-old woman, named Anne, who fell for the scam.
Anne explained that the scammer first sent her a message on social media from an account pretending to be Pitt’s mother.
Then, someone impersonating the American actor messaged her, reportedly saying: “Hello Anne, my mother told me a lot about you. I would like to know more.”
The scammers even used AI-generated photos of the actor in hospital to back up the claim that ‘Pitt’ needed money for his ‘cancer treatment’, having been left skint off the back of his divorce from Angelina Jolie.
Some of the AI-generated snaps show Pitt lying in a hospital bed, with one of him getting operated on in real time, and another of the Fight Club star holding up a message reading ‘Anne I love you’.
Anne was conned out of €830,000 (£697,000), but did later admit she became ‘suspicious’ at one point.
She was sceptical after Pitt was spotted in public with his girlfriend, Ines de Ramon, resulting in Anne hiring her own investigators, revealing the painful truth.
In an interview with TF1 via BFM TV, Anne said that she was in the midst of a difficult period with her husband, and trusted the person that was claiming to be Pitt.
But ultimately, she was distraught over what happened to her: “I ask myself why they chose me to do such harm like this.
“I’ve never harmed anyone. These people deserve hell. We need to find those scammers, I beg you – please help me find them,” she pleaded.
As per translated text, Anne explained: “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.
“There are so few men who write you this kind of thing. I liked the man I was talking to. He knew how to talk to women, it was always very well done.”
The fraudster never spoke with her over the phone, claiming to be too ‘busy’, though Anne eventually agreed to marry ‘Pitt’ after receiving €775,000 (£652,310) from divorcing her husband.
This was all sent to the account, with the scammer promising to buy her luxurious items, though Anne needed to pay a €9,000 (£7,575) customs fee.
You can probably guess that she didn’t get this back either.
According to The Guardian, Anne had been married to a wealthy entrepreneur and had joined social media to share snaps of their lifestyle together.
The viral story garnered attention for the absurdity of the AI photos, which looked a bit far-fetched, to say the least.
This story became so popular in fact, that Pitt himself had to issue a statement via his representatives, slamming the scammer for what they did.
“It’s awful that scammers take advantage of the strong bond between fans and celebrities,” a spokesperson of Pitt’s stated, before sharing a general reminder about internet safety.
“This is an important reminder not to respond to unsolicited online messages, especially from actors who are not present on social networks.”
BFM TV reports that Anne is now in a hospital clinic suffering from severe depression.
LADbible Group has previously contacted Brad Pitt’s representatives for comment.
