A 53-year-old French woman was scammed by an AI-generated ‘Brad Pitt,’ who insisted he was in love with her and convinced her to transfer €830,000 for his cancer treatment.
The ‘relationship’ kicked off soon after the woman received a message from an account claiming to be Jane Etta Pitt, the supposed mother of Brad Pitt, who convinced the victim she was exactly the woman her son needed.
The following day, an AI imitation of the Fight Club Hollywood star messaged the woman again, stating that he wanted to know more about her.
The ‘relationship’ lasted for over one-and-a-half years, during which the scammers sent numerous poems and love letters to the woman, as well as asking her to marry him.
Speaking to French media, the victim, an interior designer, revealed that “there are few men who write to you like that…I loved the man I was talking to. He knew how to talk to women, and it was very well put together.”
According to Sud Ouest, a French newspaper, the woman was going through a divorce with a millionaire entrepreneur, during the time of the con relationship. The intricate plot was set up to persuade the victim to hand over money.
The first request began when the fraudster claimed to be sending her luxurious handbags, but said she had to clear the customs bill first, which amounted to €9,000.
The imposter eventually then tricked the woman into thinking that he was hospitalised with kidney cancer, and needed money for treatment. He even said that Pitt’s real-life ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, had apparently frozen his bank accounts and thus blocked access to his fortune.
The victim said, "We’re talking about Brad Pitt here, and I was stunned… At first, I thought it was fake, but I didn’t really understand what was happening to me." Her own daughter also tried to warn her about being scammed, but she replied, "You’ll see when he’s here in person, then you’ll say sorry."
Although the victim and her daughter had doubts about her lover, she was soon reassured by the fake star’s "doctor" who had also emailed her. The alleged doctor stated that Mr Pitt was "dying and fighting to survive," to which she immediately transferred €830,000 to an account in Türkiye.
However, the woman eventually realised she had been scammed during the summer when the real Brad Pitt was seen with his current partner Inès de Ramon.
Soon after, she spoke about her cyber-bullying to French broadcaster TF1, and police are now investigating the scam that has left the victim hospitalised with depression.