Posted on 01/14/2025 11:42:07 AM PST by grundle
A French woman was tricked into handing over a whopping $851,000 after divorcing her millionaire husband, and a botched AI Brad Pitt is to blame.
A lady thought she was helping Brad Pitt out but she was actually falling victim to a shocking romance scam.
The 53-year-old victim, who gave her name as Anne, forked out 830,000 euros ($851,355) to help with what she believed was cancer treatment for the Hollywood legend.
A scammer managed to do so by convincing Anne they were Brad Pitt with a series of AI-generated images.
The interior designer told French channel TF1 that the ordeal started when she received a message on social media from someone claiming to be Brad's mother after sharing photos of her fancy ski trip to Tignes on Instagram.
A day later, another account posing as the Hollywood heartthrob sent a second message, saying his mother had spoken a lot about her already.
The victim, who noted she was going through a difficult period with her millionaire husband, said she struck up an unlikely friendship with the account from February 2023, receiving poems and sweet affirmations.
"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," she said, as reported by BFMTV.
While Anne admitted she did have her suspicions that the account was fake, after messaging every day and receiving AI-generated photos and videos of the star, she became more at ease.
Soon Anne's online relationship with 'Bad Pitt' went to the next level when the person behind the account proposed to her and overwhelmed her with the promise of fancy gifts.
The only catch was that she would need to pay customs fees to receive them, which quickly added up to 9,000 euros ($9231).
With Anne already showing a willingness to part with large sums of money, the scammer went on to make increasingly absurd requests.
How come I can’t pull these off?
She was a retired General in the French Gunless Army.
She just got divorced, feeling lonesome and unmoored.
She was at peak vulnerability, and somebody timed the scam just right. Common sense took a distant back seat to emotion and the strong lures of imaginary romance.
Brad is worth well over $400. Millon Dollars.
Almost as much as Yoko Ono.
Why would his Mom be asking anything of strangers?
The last line of the article says she is hospitalized with severe depression. Duh.
I have a hard time believing stories like this.
I can’t imagine a mature, experienced woman being so stupid.
This sure isn't gonna help their relationship.
Maybe it’s her newly divorced husband. An inside job.
Branduhn was just saying how awesome AI is. Nice call Joe. Fidiots!
I have mixed feelings. Of course fraud is wrong. Maybe I am a callous jerk but sometimes I think people too stupid to hold onto money deserve to lose it.
Yes, because if I send Brad Pitt $850,000, he’ll love me!
You never know. She did say the Faker knew just how to talk to her.
After that terrible Rape Trial in France, the one where the husband hired scores of men to rape his wife while he watched , it’s understandable for the most recent spouse to be under suspicion.
Yes, I read about these scams directed at old lonely women who have some sort of disease or mental problem all the time. Too bad they don't have someone in their lives to steer them clear. I would never give a dime to ANYONE who asks me for money on the Internet no matter how convincing their narrative seems.
I saw through the Nigerian scam immediately. Yeah right, I'll send you $2000 to hold you over until you get your family fortune and reward me with 10 times the amount.
So many of these scams are obvious, but many elderly just don't have he acumen to recognize a "con". They think anything you read on the Internet or via E-mail must be true. There scams right now trying to get money from the Los Angeles fire victims. I so just want to shoot these horrible creatures.
Wasn’t there a very wealthy businessman of some kind who lost a lot to scammers? I can’t remember who; it was some years ago.
Reminds me of the Steve Martin, Michael Caine movie “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”.
With AI, we’re going to see a sh!t-ton increase in these kinds of stories.
“Brad is worth well over $400. Millon Dollars.
Almost as much as Yoko Ono.”
There is no justice in this world.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HdZ9weP5i68
Hahaha it wasn’t “botched” if it made $850000 dollars!
I think the ex-hubby was the big winner...if she was squandering *only* her own money.
Otoh, a broke ex-wife may become a friendly ex, again.
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