A woman in France has been scammed after being deceived into believing she was in a relationship with Brad Pitt.
The 53-year-old victim, identified as Anne, is the latest to fall for the “Fake Brad Pitt Scam,” which has been reported in several cases across Spain in 2024.
Anne, an interior designer, told French channel TF1 that the ordeal began in September 2023 when she received a message on Instagram from someone claiming to be Jane Etta Pitt, the actor’s mother. The conversation quickly shifted to Brad Pitt, with the fraudster suggesting that the two would make a great romantic match.
Anne was told by the scammer impersonating Brad’s mother, “It is a woman like you that my son needs.” The following day, another account contacted her, claiming, “Hello Anne, my mother told me a lot about you. I would like to know more.”
Initially, Anne suspected it might be a scam, but she was soon drawn into the fraudster’s web of lies.
“I thought it was fake at first, but I couldn’t understand what was happening to me,” Anne recalled. “After that, we would contact each other every day and we became friends.”
At the time, Anne was going through a difficult period in her personal life, with her relationship with a millionaire entrepreneur, 19 years her senior, falling apart, as reported by Sud Ouest newspaper.
The scammer, posing as Brad Pitt, sent her poems, songs, and AI-generated photos of the actor. “He knew how to talk to women, it was always very well done,” Anne said.
The fraudster started sending her luxury bags, but told her she had to pay for customs, leading Anne to lose her first €9,000 (£7,580).
Later, the scammer claimed to have kidney cancer and needed money for treatment. He told Anne that his ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, had frozen his bank accounts, leaving him unable to access his wealth.
Fake photos of Brad Pitt in a hospital bed with an IV followed, further convincing Anne. It was only after seeing pictures of Brad Pitt with his new girlfriend, Ines de Ramon, in the media that Anne started to question the situation.
Anne then reported the scam to the French police, who launched an investigation in the summer of 2024.
Following the ordeal, BFMTV reported that Anne is currently receiving treatment in a clinic for severe depression.
