In a case highlighting the rising dangers of on-line deception, a 53-year-old French girl, recognized as Anne, misplaced practically a million euros (roughly Rs 7 crore) after being duped right into a faux romantic relationship with a scammer impersonating Brad Pitt. The ordeal, which started in February 2023, showcases the growing use of synthetic intelligence in fraudulent schemes.
Anne, an inside designer, first encountered the fraud after posting a few luxurious ski journey on social media. In line with a report printed by the Each day Mail, she advised French channel TF1 that she acquired a message from somebody claiming to be Brad Pitt’s mom. Shortly after, she was contacted by an account posing as Pitt himself, referencing their supposed familial connection and praising her. Flattered by the poetic messages and considerate compliments, Anne step by step fashioned an emotional bond along with her digital suitor.
“There are so few males who write you this sort of factor. I favored the person I used to be speaking to. He knew discuss to ladies,” she recalled in an interview with BFMTV.
Regardless of preliminary doubts, Anne’s suspicions light because the impersonator despatched AI-generated pictures and movies, convincingly mimicking Pitt’s look and voice. The phantasm deepened when the faux Brad Pitt proposed marriage and promised lavish items. Nonetheless, he demanded customs charges, totaling €9,000, to launch these items. As belief constructed, the monetary requests escalated.
The rip-off intensified when Anne revealed her pending divorce settlement from a millionaire husband. Exploiting this info, the fraudster fabricated a dramatic story about needing funds for most cancers remedy. Claiming he was unable to entry his cash because of a bitter divorce from Angelina Jolie, he shared AI-generated pictures of himself bedridden in a hospital to elicit sympathy.
Over a number of months, Anne transferred €830,000, believing she was aiding her future husband. Nonetheless, doubts arose when media stories linked the true Brad Pitt to his new accomplice, Ines de Ramon. This revelation prompted Anne to strategy authorities.
fransa’da milyarder bir iş insanıyla evli olan kadın, bir buçuk yıl boyunca kendisinin brad pitt olduğunu söyleyen biri tarafından 830 bin euro dolandırılmış. kadın hayali brad pitt’in ona attığı photoshoplu fotoğraflara, şiir ve aşk mesajlarına kanmış… pic.twitter.com/Jnz0t6YPOB
— orkun (@orkunelmacigil) January 13, 2025
Anne’s emotional and monetary devastation has left her hospitalized with extreme melancholy, BFMTV stories, as per the Each day Mail article. French media stories spotlight her story as a cautionary story concerning the risks of on-line scams, notably these leveraging synthetic intelligence to create lifelike deception.
