A 53-year-old French woman, Anne, was duped into sending over €800,000 to scammers who claimed to be her boyfriend, actor Brad Pitt. The scammers posed as his mother and developed a convincing fake relationship with Anne through social media and phone calls.
Anne was contacted in February 2023 by someone claiming to be Brad’s mother, Jane Pitt, while she was on a ski trip in Tignes, France. She later discovered the “mum” was not real and that scammers were using AI-generated videos, fake social media accounts, and WhatsApp messages to maintain their ruse.
As Anne trusted the scammers more, she sent almost €10,000 initially and then nearly all of her divorce settlement – €775,000. The scammers told her Brad had kidney cancer and needed financial help due to his ongoing divorce from Angelina Jolie.
The scam has led to a police investigation and a lawsuit being filed by Anne. This is not the first time Brad Pitt’s identity has been impersonated online; two women were recently scammed out of at least $350,000.
Source: https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/scammers-posing-as-brad-pitt-convince-woman-to-transfer-800000