Brad Pitt is speaking out after discovering that his AI likeness was used by an online scammer to defraud a French woman of a staggering €830,000 ($851,000). The 61-year-old actor expressed shock and outrage upon learning that someone had exploited his images to deceive the woman, who was duped into handing over the massive sum of money.
French woman scammed by Pitt’s AI
The 53-year-old woman, identified as Anne, became convinced that she and Pitt were in a romantic relationship after nearly 18 months of online exchanges. The AI impersonator, using Pitt’s likeness, charmed her with love declarations and even a marriage proposal, leading the woman to divorce her wealthy husband, who was 19 years her senior.
Initially, she paid customs fees for luxury handbags the fake Pitt promised her, but as the scam progressed, the fraudsters escalated their tactics. They claimed that the actor was hospitalized with kidney cancer and urgently needed money for treatment, convincing Anne to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars. In a tearful interview on French television, she recounted how she had been manipulated into believing the false narrative, as reported by Daily Express US.
The fake Pitt’s excuse to ask for money was that he could not access his own funds due to the ongoing divorce with Jolie. To make the situation believable, Anne was also sent pictures of the actor lying in a hospital bed. The woman revealed that her daughter tried to warn her that she might be getting scammed, however, Anne was convinced with all the fake pieces of evidence that her relationship with Pitt was very real.
Her suspicions began when she came across pictures of Pitt with his girlfriend Ines de Ramon on social media. However, by that time she had already shelled out around $850,000.
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Pitt responds to the scam
Pitt reacted to the scam on his name after it made headlines last week. A spokesperson for the actor said, “It’s awful that scammers take advantage of the strong bond between fans and celebrities. This is an important reminder not to respond to unsolicited online messages, especially from actors who are not present on social networks,” as reported by The Daily Express US.
The Fight Club indeed has no verified accounts on any of the prominent social media platforms such as X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, TikTok and more. The French police are investigating the scheme which was staged by the scammers to extract large sums of money from their victims.
