It’s a con even more elaborate than “Oceans 11.”
A French woman who thought she was in a romantic relationship with Hollywood star Brad Pitt handed over 830,000 euros ($855,000) to scammers as part of an elaborate, yearlong con that involved an AI-generated version of the “Moneyball” actor.
To add insult to injury, when she discussed her misfortune on the French television channel TF1, the 53-year-old interior designer known only as “Anne” was hit with a wave of mockery and trolling so bad that the station had to pull her interview with its “Seven to Eight” show.
“The story broadcast this Sunday has resulted in a wave of harassment against the witness,” TF1 presenter Harry Roselmack posted on his X account Tuesday. “For the protection of victims, we have decided to withdraw it from our platforms.”
Anne said she began talking to the fake version of the “Fight Club” actor sometime in February 2023, after an account posing as Pitt’s mother, Jane Etta Pitt, sent her a message on Instagram while she was on a skiing holiday in the French Alps.
Speaking on TF1, Anne said that the account “told me that her son needed someone like me,” according to AFP.
Over the next few months, she exchanged several messages on different social media and messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, with the fake Pitt, even receiving AI-generated selfies of the 61-year-old actor, whose facsimile told her he needed money for cancer treatment.
“At first I said to myself that it was fake, that it’s ridiculous,” she said. “But I’m not used to social media and I didn’t really understand what was happening to me.”
The request for money came after the scammers told Anne that Pitt was in the hospital with kidney cancer and needed money for the treatment, but that his bank accounts were allegedly frozen because of his divorce proceedings with ex-wife Angelina Jolie.
She was hesitant at first, but eventually transferred the large sum of money to an account in Turkey after receiving an email from the fake star’s “doctor.”
Anne said she finally realized she had been the victim of a scam after she saw pictures of the real Pitt with his current partner, Inès de Ramon, last summer. “I ask myself why they chose me to do such harm like this?” she said. “I’ve never harmed anyone. These people deserve hell.”
The French newspaper Sud Ouest reported that Anne was going through divorce proceedings with a millionaire entrepreneur at the time. She reportedly suffered from severe depression and was hospitalized following the scam.
Police are now investigating the con, but the interview has nevertheless sparked a deluge of jokes online.
Among the individuals, organizations and companies making jokes at Anne’s expense was Netflix France, which promoted “four films to see with Brad Pitt (really) for free” in a post on X.
Artificial intelligence has increased the risk of identity theft and fraud online, which contributed to over $8.8 million in losses in the U.S., according to the Federal Trade Commission.
A global study conducted by the computer security company McAfee found that 1 in 4 people worldwide have either experienced an AI-voice cloning scam or know someone who has.