A 53-year-old French interior designer, identified only as Anne, has revealed how she was conned out of €830,000 (£697,000; $851,355) by a scammer posing as Hollywood actor Brad Pitt.
Speaking to French media outlets TF1 and BFMTV, Anne recounted how the elaborate scam began in February 2023 after she shared photos of her luxurious ski trip to Tignes on Instagram.
Anne explained that the scam started with a message from someone claiming to be Brad Pitt’s mother. “The next day, I received a message from an account claiming to be Brad Pitt himself. He said his mother had spoken a lot about me already,” she recalled.
At the time, Anne was experiencing marital difficulties with her millionaire husband. “I was going through a tough patch, and he [the scammer] wrote to me every day. There are so few men who write to you like this. He knew how to talk to women—it was always very well done,” she said.
Over months of communication, the scammer sent Anne poems, endearing messages, and AI-generated photos and videos of Brad Pitt. Despite initial doubts, the daily exchanges and realistic images lulled her into a false sense of security.
“I did think the account might be fake at first,” Anne admitted, “but after receiving those images and videos, I started to believe him.”
The relationship took a serious turn when the scammer proposed to Anne and promised her extravagant gifts. However, he claimed she needed to pay customs fees to receive them, amounting to €9,000 ($9,231).
Later, learning that Anne was expecting a significant divorce settlement, the scammer escalated his demands. He claimed to be in dire need of money for kidney cancer treatment, citing a fictional divorce from Angelina Jolie as the reason he could not access his funds.
“They even sent me AI-generated pictures of Brad Pitt in a hospital bed,” Anne said. However, the scammer was “never available for a call,” which Anne now recognizes as a common red flag in online scams.
Anne eventually realized she had been deceived and went public with her story in January 2025. She hopes to warn others about the growing sophistication of online romance scams, particularly those involving AI-generated content.
“Looking back, it seems so obvious,” she lamented. “But when you’re emotionally vulnerable, you don’t see it.”
Authorities and cybercrime experts urge individuals to be cautious about unsolicited messages and verify identities before engaging in personal or financial relationships online.
