Brad Pitt issues statement after woman loses £700,000 to AI scam
Brad Pitt has issued a statement after a French woman was scammed for £700,000 by an AI-assisted fraudster impersonating Pitt.
The woman was in contact with the scammer for 18 months, believing she had fallen in love with the real Brad Pitt. Therefore, when she was asked to provide money to cover the cost of his alleged cancer treatment, she duly obliged.
During an interview with French media, the woman explained that she was initially wary and believed it to be a scam. However, the AI-assisted scammer wooed her by declaring his love and even made promises to marry her.
The scheme is currently being investigated by French police. The woman was sent AI images of Pitt in a hospital bed, which made her believe he was receiving care for kidney cancer. Before this point, she had also sent him money to allow him to buy her handbags.
Although her daughter warned her it was a scam, the woman believed the fraudster to be genuine. In an interview with TF1, she said: “There are few men who write to you like that. I loved the man I was talking to. He knew how to talk to women and it was very well put together.”
“We’re talking about Brad Pitt here and I was stunned,” she added. “At first, I thought it was fake, but I didn’t really understand what was happening to me.”
It took until 2024 for the woman to realise it was a scam when Pitt was pictured in public alongside his partner Inès de Ramon.
In a statement, Pitt’s spokesperson shared: “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.”
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