A French woman has fallen victim to an elaborate scam in which fraudsters posed as Hollywood actor Brad Pitt, tricking her into handing over €830,000 (£697,000).
The 53-year-old interior designer, identified as Anne, believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Oscar-winning star.
Anne’s ordeal began in September 2023 when she received a message on Instagram from an account claiming to belong to Brad Pitt’s mother, Jane Etta Pitt. The messages quickly turned to matchmaking, with the fraudster telling Anne, “It is a woman like you that my son needs.”
The fraudster was never available for a phone call – a common tactic in many scams
The following day, Anne was contacted by another account pretending to be Brad Pitt himself. Initially skeptical, she was eventually drawn into the scam, convinced by daily conversations and the illusion of a blossoming friendship.
“At first, I thought it was fake, but I couldn’t understand what was happening to me,” Anne told French channel TF1. “After that, we would contact each other daily and became friends.”
At the time, Anne was navigating personal difficulties, including the collapse of a relationship with a millionaire entrepreneur nearly two decades her senior.
The scammers capitalised on her vulnerability, sending her poems, AI-generated photos of Brad Pitt, and even gifting her luxury handbags. However, they insisted she pay customs fees, which cost her an initial €9,000 (£7,580).
As the deception deepened, the fraudsters claimed that “Brad Pitt” was battling kidney cancer. They fabricated a story that his ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, had frozen his accounts, leaving him unable to access his fortune. They shared fake images of the actor in a hospital bed connected to an IV machine to make the ruse more convincing.
Convinced of the Hollywood star’s plight, Anne transferred a staggering €830,000 to cover his alleged medical expenses.
Anne’s doubts surfaced in early 2024 when she saw photos of Brad Pitt with his real-life girlfriend, Ines de Ramon, in a news report.
Realising she had been duped, she approached the French police, who investigated the case in the summer of 2024.
The scam has left Anne devastated. She is currently hospitalised and receiving treatment for severe depression, according to French outlet BFMTV.
Anne is not the first victim of the so-called “Fake Brad Pitt Scam.” Similar cases were reported in Spain in 2024, highlighting the prevalence of fraud schemes targeting vulnerable individuals online.
Authorities are urging people to exercise caution when interacting with unknown accounts on social media, particularly those claiming to be high-profile celebrities.
This case serves as a sobering reminder of the dangers lurking online and the importance of vigilance in the digital age.
