A French Woman Scammed Out Of $800,000 By Crooks Claiming To Be Brad Pitt Is Now Being Bullied For Her Gullibility
The scammers convinced her she was in a relationship with Pitt and he needed her money for an operation.
Andrea Raffin | Shutterstock A French woman went viral for falling for a scam in which she was convinced that Brad Pitt was her boyfriend. Of course, some fairly brutal mockery ensued from those certain they'd never be so gullible. But her story is a reminder that experts say that's untrue — anyone can fall for an okey-doke if it's well executed enough.
The French woman was scammed out of nearly $850,000 by crooks pretending to be Brad Pitt.
The woman, named Anne, went instantly viral in France and beyond following her appearance on the news show "Seven to Eight" on France's TF1 network, in which she described the somewhat farcical situation she found herself in.
Using a combination of fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, and AI image-creation tools, the scammers convinced Anne that she was in a secret long-distance relationship with Brad Pitt. Yes, that Brad Pitt.
The scammers used AI tools to convince Anne that Brad Pitt needed her money for a life-saving operation.
It all began when Anne, 53, received a message on Facebook from an account claiming to be Pitt's mother. She first sent the scammer around €9000 (about $9300) as a loan for gifts for her he said were tied up in customs.
Anne, who has a history of mental health struggles, also told TF1 that she has very little experience with social media apps. "At first I said to myself that it was fake, that it's ridiculous," she told the network. "But I'm not used to social media and I didn't really understand what was happening to me."
Soon, "Pitt" was lamenting that he had been diagnosed with kidney cancer, but because of his ongoing divorce from Angelina Jolie, his assets had been frozen and he was unable to pay for treatment.
She then sent him nearly her entire divorce settlement, close to $800,000, to help him cover the cost of his supposed treatments. The scammers used AI tools to create fake photos of Pitt receiving IV infusions and even surgical procedures.
It wasn't until she began reading about Pitt's real-life relationship with Ines De Ramon that she realized she had been scammed. She has since filed a lawsuit and a police report about the incident.
The woman has since been subject to cyberbullying, but experts say anyone — yes, anyone — can be scammed.
TF1 has since removed its interview with Anne following waves of cruel online harassment and mockery that came on the heels of her interview, including social media posts from Toulouse Football Club and Netflix France mockingly referencing her viral story.
It's easy to see why, of course — the photos she received are, admittedly, hilarious and appear comically fake to those of us who can easily recognize AI. It's no wonder that jokes have ensued.
However, experts say that everyone is susceptible to being scammed if the scammer in question is good enough at the psychological manipulation involved. Good scammers know exactly how to leverage language, emotion, and even your own speech patterns to win your trust. The ready access to every detail about us and our lives provided by the digital age makes scams less detectable, too.
Perhaps most bracing of all, cybersecurity expert and Harvard professor Bruce Schneier says people who are highly intelligent are sometimes EASIER to scam because they're so certain of their lack of gullibility. "They say, 'I’m too smart, I would never fall for that,' and they do because maybe it catches them on a bad day," he told the Harvard Gazette.
Regardless, scams are skyrocketing and 30% of Americans were scammed in 2024. While Anne's scammers were likely aided by her age and lack of social media savvy, young Gen Zers were scammed just one single percentage point less than the elderly last year.
All the more reason to stay vigilant, no matter how young or savvy you may be, and to not accept any messages from the "Brad Pitts" of the world — no matter how beguiling they may look in a hospital bed.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.