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There are a lot of crazy scams out there on the internet… But this one definitely deserves a spot at the top of the list. Because you’ll never be able to forget these photos…
A 53-year-old French woman is reeling after sinking hundreds of thousands of dollars and a whole lot of love into an online relationship with Brad Pitt… Or at least with someone she believed was Brad Pitt! According to French outlets AFP and BFM TV, the woman, identified only as Anne, spoke to local TV network TF1 recently about a whirlwind romance she found herself caught up in in 2023.
Apparently, she was contacted on social media by someone posing as the Inglorious Basterds actor’s mother encouraging her to connect with the movie star. She expressed skepticism at first — but fell hard when she was eventually contacted by someone posing as Brad himself. According to BFM TV, she told TF1:
“At first I said to myself that it was fake, that it’s ridiculous. But I’m not used to social media and I didn’t really understand what was happening to me.”
Well, it all comes a little bit more into focus when you realize her financial status… According to multiple outlets, Anne was married to a millionaire… But we’ll circle back to that later.
Related: The FBI Showed Up At Ben Affleck’s Door! Here’s Why…
BFM TV reported the mystery con artist would send Anne flirtatious and romantic messages and poems slowly but surely winning over her affection. She explained:
“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.”
Eventually, things took a turn when the scammer proposed! Yes, really. She thought Brad Pitt, the movie star, whom she’d never met in person, was asking her to marry him. He then promised to shower her in gifts… but said he needed almost $10,000 in order to send them. The classic Spanish Prisoner/Nigerian Prince con, but for an engagement ring instead of a person.
Anne, confiding in the man she believed to be Brad, admitted she and her husband were going through a divorce and that she’d be receiving a massive chunk of change in the settlement. And you know what that was? Music to the con artist’s ears. So, they hatched a lucrative new scam.
Apparently, the poser told Anne he was in need of cancer treatment but unable to use his own money because it was wrapped up in the divorce from that darn Angelina Jolie. But you can’t just ask someone for hundreds of thousands of dollars without first proving who you are, right? So that’s what they did. In an attempt to authenticate the lie, the scammer sent AI-generated videos, as well as doctored photos of Brad lying in a hospital bed. And the photo proof is… not good.
Take a look at these things (below):
A French woman reportedly divorced her millionaire husband then was scammed out of $850k by a fake Brad Pitt.
The scammer used AI-generated photos and claimed he was undergoing cancer treatment and couldn’t access his money due to his divorce. She realized the truth upon seeing… pic.twitter.com/cG5KFa6ojr
— Pop Base (@PopBase) January 14, 2025
Whoa. That’s INSANE, right? Would you buy even a single one of these?!
Well, Anne in her naïveté bought it… Even though the scammer refused to talk on the phone! So, she ended up sending about $850,000 to the scammer for the fake cancer treatment.
HOLY S**T.
Eventually, Anne became suspicious when she saw photos online of Brad very much NOT in a hospital bed, and very much WITH his girlfriend Ines de Ramon. Oof… Could you imagine that feeling? YIKES.
The French woman went to the authorities with her story and an investigation was launched. As of now, no suspect has been identified.
That poor woman… It’s just completely diabolical. How anyone could do that do that to another human being is beyond us! And to make the situation all the more f**ked up, according to BFM TV, Anne is currently getting treatment for severe depression at a mental health facility.
Innerestingly, TF1 has apparently taken down their interview with her after a wave of criticism from netizens. Clearly folks think the woman is suffering from more than extreme gullibility — and needs to be treated more carefully.
As for everyone else, internet literacy is more important than ever, people! This is the world we live in! And we need to be able to identify scams — because some may even come with AI or photoshopped pics that look halfway decent. So stay safe out there!
[Images via Universal Pictures/YouTube & MEGA/WENN]
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