Brad Pitt referred to the famous case of a 53-year-old French woman who thought she was having an affair with the actor and transferred 830,000 euros to a fraudster. The star called the whole situation “terrifying” and warned fans not to rely too much on the news they receive online.
In the middle of January, the media spread the story of 53-year-old Annie, who believed for a year and a half that she was having an affair with Brad Pitt. But it turned out that this woman was a victim of a scammer. She was tricked by him and forced to donate about 830,000 euros (equivalent to PLN 3.5 million) for the actor’s possible oncology treatment. The French woman was convinced of her love affair with Pitt and even decided to divorce her then-husband. He was assured of the “authenticity” of the relationship with the star through images and recordings produced by artificial intelligence.
Brad Pitt’s reaction
Brad Pitt addressed the issue in a statement released by his spokesperson on Wednesday. “It’s alarming that scammers are taking advantage of the strong bond between fans and celebrities,” he said. Ann’s case was described in a statement as a “vital reminder” of the need to be careful online. Pitt warned fans not to put too much faith in unexpected messages online, especially if they come from public figures who are “not on social media”.
As E! News, Brad Pitt doesn’t really have verified profiles on popular social media platforms. He is not officially present on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter – ed.) or Tik-Tok. This was exploited by a fraudster who contacted Anna using fake social media and WhatsApp accounts. He also sent the woman AI-generated photos and videos.
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This woman thought she was having an affair with Brad Pitt
According to “Newsweek”, at the time of the fraud, Ann was the wife of a millionaire. A French woman decides to divorce her husband when a criminal pretending to be a star asks her to marry him. The woman received €830,000, which was later extorted from her as part of the divorce settlement. She sent the money to the scammer because he convinced her that she needed the money for a possible cure for her cancer. As he stated, pretending to be Brad Pitt, he could not use his funds because they were frozen due to the divorce proceedings with his ex-wife Angelina Jolie.
Ann realized that she was a victim of fraud when information about Brad Pitt’s relationship with jewelry designer Ines de Ramon appeared in the media.
SEE ALSO: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt agree to divorce. After eight years
The Guardian, E! News, tvn24.pl
Main image source: Getty Images
