Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- A 53-year-old French interior designer, Anne, was recently posed as Hollywood actor Brad Pitt'sScamsThe gang swindled 830,000 euros (note: currently about 6.275 million yuan).
According to a Sunday primetime program on France's Television 1 (TF1), Anne downloaded Instagram in February 2023 after being contacted by someone claiming to be Brad Pitt's mother, who said Pitt "needed a woman like her." The following day, Annie was contacted by a man claiming to be Pitt, and although she was suspicious for a moment, she was unfamiliar with social media and failed to recognize the scam.
The scammers demanded that Anne pay a "customs fee" of 9,000 euros (currently about $68,043) to give Pitt a luxury gift, citing the fact that his bank account had been frozen as a result of his divorce from Angelina Jolie. The scammer then claimed that Pitt had kidney cancer and needed money for treatment, and sent AI-generated photos of Pitt in hospital. Anne said, "I googled these photos and couldn't find them, so I assumed they were selfies he took just for me."
During this period.Annie divorced her wealthy entrepreneur husband, received a property division of €775,000 (currently about Rs. 5,859,000), all of which ended up in the hands of the scammers. Anne admits, "I told myself that I might be saving a man's life." She herself has had cancer and is currently in remission.
When a gossip magazine publishes a photo of the real Pete with his new girlfriend, Ines de Lamont, Anne becomes skeptical, but the scammer temporarily calms her by sending an AI-generated fake news video claiming that Pete is in an exclusive relationship with "a special woman named Anne".It wasn't until June 2024, when Pitt and Ramone made their relationship official, that Anne decided to end the "relationship"..
The scammers then tried to get more money under the name of "FBI Special Agent John Smith" and Annie eventually called the police. The police are now investigating the case.
After TF1's program aired, Anne's ordeal sparked ridicule on social media, with Netflix France posting an advertisement on the X platform recommending "four movies starring Brad Pitt (for real)," and the Toulouse soccer club posting a now-deleted thread teasing Anne. Despite the club's subsequent apology, Anne was subjected to severe online harassment, leading TF1 to pull the show in question. The program claimed that since the hoax came to light, theAnnie has lost her life savings and attempted suicide three times..
In an interview with a popular French YouTube show, Anne said she was not "crazy or stupid" and emphasized, "I've just been lied to, and I recognize that, so I'm standing up and speaking out because I'm not the only one who's been victimized." She also criticized TF1's show for omitting details about the many times she had doubts about the other woman's identity, noting, "Anyone can fall for that if they hear things they've never heard from their husband."
While many users were cynical about Annie, many others were understanding. One Platform X user wrote, "I understand the comedic effect, but we're talking about a woman in her 50s who was scammed by deep fakes and AI technology that your parents and grandparents may not have been able to spot either." An opinion piece in Libération called Anne a "whistle blower" and warned that "life today is full of cyber traps ......AI advances will only make this worse. "
Currently, Annie is living with a friend and her life is in limbo. She tearfully appealed, "Why should I be hurt like this? These people deserve to go to hell. We need to find these crooks and I beg you -- please help me find them."