A French woman lost €830,000 in a sophisticated scam after fraudsters used artificial intelligence to pose as actor Brad Pitt. The victim, identified only as Anne, fell prey to the elaborate scheme that lasted over a year, beginning in February 2023.
The 53-year-old interior designer’s ordeal began when scammers contacted her through a fake social media account pretending to be Pitt’s mother. The fraudsters used AI technology to create convincing photos and videos of the Hollywood star, leading Anne to believe she was in a genuine relationship with him. Her initial skepticism faded as the scammers continued their deception.
The scammers exploited Anne’s inexperience with social media and manipulated her emotions through romantic messages and poetry. They crafted a complex narrative around Pitt’s ongoing divorce proceedings and claimed he needed money for kidney cancer treatment. To make the deception more believable, they even sent her a fake TV report about Pitt’s relationship status.
Anne’s belief in the relationship was so strong that she divorced her husband and sent most of her divorce settlement to the imposters. The truth only came to light when she saw genuine news coverage about Pitt’s actual relationship status. Her story was later featured on the French TV show “Sept à Huit” in January 2025.
Nigerian scammers are suspected of orchestrating this fraud, which highlights the growing threat of AI-powered scams. The incident reflects a disturbing trend in cybercrime, where artificial intelligence and deepfake technology are making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between real and fake content online.
The scale of such scams is significant, with Meta removing 63,000 Instagram accounts linked to sextortion schemes in 2024 alone. The story gained such widespread attention that TF1 withdrew coverage due to the victim facing harassment. Cybercrime experts warn that AI and deepfake technology are erasing years of progress in fraud prevention, as scammers continue to develop more sophisticated methods to deceive victims through social media platforms.
