'AI Brad Pitt' scammer who tricked woman into sending £700k 'now posing as another Hollywood A-lister'
17 January 2025, 08:34 | Updated: 17 January 2025, 09:14
AI scammers who posed as Brad Pitt to trick a woman into sending them nearly £700,000 are now posing as another film star.
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The fraudsters, who are said to be based in Nigeria, have been uncovered by private investigators.
They previously tricked a 53-year-old French woman, Anne, into handing over €830,000 euros (£697,000) after striking up a relationship over social media, posing as the star and reeling her in with poems and promises of lavish gifts.
The scammers are said to have targeted over 30 other victims as well as Anne.
But now they have been tracked down by investigators working for French company Find My Scammers.
"It wasn’t easy, but we found him," said Marwan Ouarab, the company's founder. "It’s a small group of three or four young people," he told French outlet 20 Minutes.
"He’s still active, now pretending to be Keanu Reeves".
Mr Ouarab said he has shared the information with Nigerian authorities but is doubtful that action will be taken against the scammer and warned people to be careful.
Pitt's team said the scam was "awful" and said people should not reply to unsolicited messages from the Once Upon A Time in Hollywood star.
The fraud against Anne began in February 2023 when she was going through a difficult divorce with her millionaire husband.
Soon after she posted photos of a luxury ski trip, a woman posing as Pitt's mother struck up a conversation with her over Instagram. An account posing as Pitt messaged her 24 hours later, saying he had heard stories of her from his mother.
"There are so few men who write you this kind of thing. I liked the man I was talking to. He knew how to talk to women, it was always very well done," Anne said later, as reported by BFMTV.
Anne admitted she had suspicions after 'Brad' got in contact, with concerns the account was fake.
However, after exchanging messages every day, her worries were slowly calmed, with the two striking up a touching relationship, with fake Brad promising her lavish gifts and a shoulder to cry on amid her divorce.
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The scammer then dropped a bombshell, revealing 'Brad's' secret and debilitating battle with kidney cancer.
Anne regularly received AI generated photos and videos of the star from his hospital bed, with images including Pitt apparently unconscious while undergoing surgery.
Speaking with TF1 about her ordeal, she tearfully recalled about being scammed out of thousands of euros over the course of the fake relationship.
An emotional rollercoaster saw fake Brad quickly propose to Anne as the two communicated by text and with photos.
Images of Pitt photoshopped into a hospital bed were sent to the victim, with a number of shots from the star's 'hospital room' accompanied by messages including 'I love you so much my wife'.
She claims to have felt overwhelmed with the offerings, with the only alarm bells being when images of Pitt began appearing in the press with a new girlfriend - that was not Anne.
Anne said her fiance was never free for a call, which raised further suspicions.
Over the course of the deception, Anne lost close to one million euros - with the financial concerns finally leading her to contact the police.
French police soon launched an investigation.
Taking to X, a number of social media users who followed the case revealed their thoughts on the matter.
One user wrote: "It’s sad how lonely and lost older people get. To where they are so delusional and do this."
Another commented: "Why you need to know what your old folks are up to before they give away your inheritance to Brad Pitt".
It is not known whether Anne managed to retrieve any of the stolen money, with BFMTV reporting that Anne is currently hospitalised in a private clinic as she continues to suffer from severe depression.
