A French woman fell victim to a scam after she became convinced that she was seeing Hollywood actor Brad Pitt.
Since multiple cases of the Fake Brad Pitt Scam were reported in Spain in 2024, the 53-year-old victim who identified herself as Anne is the most recent woman to fall for it.
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Anne who is an interior designer told French channel TF1 that the nightmare started in September 2023 when she got a message on Instagram.
Anne was told by the fraudster posing as Brad’s mum: “It is a woman like you that my son needs.”
The very next day another account contacted her, writing: “Hello Anne, my mother told me a lot about you. I would like to know more.”
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Anne recalled being overjoyed that she was actually having a conversation with Brad Pitt, adding: “At first, I thought it was fake, but I could not understand what was happening to me.
“After that, we would contact each other every day and we became friends.”
The topic of Brad Pitt and how the two would make a fantastic romantic match soon came up in conversation.
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She initially thought it might be a scam but she quickly slipped into the scammer’s intricate web of lies.
Her relationship with a millionaire businessman who was 19 years her senior was in ruins at the time according and she was going through a difficult period in her personal life.
The scammer sent her songs poems and artificial intelligence (AI) images that mimicked Brad Pitt’s appearance.
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He began purchasing her opulent bags but informed her that customs fees would be her responsibility.
“He knew how to talk to women, it was always very well done,” Anne said.
Anne lost her first €9000 (£7580) in this manner.
Finally while continuing to pose as the actor, the con artist said he had kidney cancer and needed money to treat it.
He informed Anne that he was unable to access his fortune because his bank accounts were frozen by his ex-wife Angelina Jolie.
The victim became convinced after seeing phoney pictures of Brad Pitt strapped to an IV machine in a hospital bed.
In the end, she sent 830000 euros (£697000) to support the movie stars treatment for what she thought was cancer.
Anne didnt suspect the scam until she saw images of Brad Pitt with Ines de Ramon his new girlfriend in the newspapers.
When the victim told the story to the French police they opened an investigation in the summer of 2024.
