‘Brad Pitt is having surgery and you’re laughing?’: French woman cyberbullied after Brad Pitt catfish scams her out of $850K

A catfish scammer swindled $850,000 from a 53-year-old French woman by posing as actor Brad Pitt online, according to local reports. The catfisher first contacted her on Facebook posing as Pitt’s mother and began asking her for money before proposing marriage. The victim, identified as Anne, divorced her husband for the chance to marry the celebrity.

The scammer used AI-generated images and videos to convince Anne to send the money as part of an increasingly prevalent issue that often targets older individuals who might be unfamiliar with new technology.

How a Brad Pitt catfish cost a woman $850,000

According to a report by French broadcast network BFM TV, the scammer first reached out as Brad Pitt’s mother on Facebook, then sent Anne text messages as the movie star to launch the fake affair. They first convinced the target to send $9,000 to pay customs to allow promised gifts from Pitt into France.

When Anne complied, the catfisher proposed marriage, and she divorced her millionaire husband for him. After receiving a large amount of cash in the settlement, the scammer claimed that Pitt had cancer and couldn’t pay for a desperately needed kidney transplant because his own money was tied up in his divorce from Angelina Jolie.

They used the AI-generated content showing Pitt in a hospital to convince Anne to send over $800,000 for the non-existent medical bills. She finally realized her mistake after seeing a photo of the actor with his new girlfriend, Ines de Ramon.

Anne filed a report with French authorities in 2024 and is reportedly receiving treatment for severe depression.

'Ma'am? Are you dumb?'

Despite the large amount of money lost, or perhaps because of it, social media users are largely refusing to offer Anne any sympathy. The AI images showing Pitt in a hospital gown and even on the OR table strike many as so obviously fake that they cannot believe anyone fell for the scam.

"Some people deserve to be scammed for being so f*cking stupid," wrote X user @waynio2010.

"That last picture is frying me," said @OldNickSantora. "They put the surgeons and everything with Brad Pitt's head popping out to show it's legit."

However, people have been falling for catfishing scams for years without the aid of AI. Some more generous users offered up stories of people they know who fell for similar schemes long before the technology existed.

"When I was 9 my Aunt thought she was mediating Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattinson's relationship," said @ChewyyOnX. "Then she thought she was going to move to Hollywood to be Kristen's assistant. She also thought she was gonna be with Robert."

"0 Ai involved."

AI-assisted romance scams on the rise

Anne is far from the only one to fall for a catfish scam in the age of AI, even if most others don't involve Brad Pitt or that much money. A 2024 report by The Independent described how scammers are mass-producing fake online dating profiles that use both AI image generators for photos and programs like ChatGPT to write to people.

As the technology advances, the fakes become more difficult to spot. Even AI video programs like Sora are convincing some people to believe in what isn't there.

"Sora is a double-edged sword," explained relationship expert Steve Phillips-Waller. "It demonstrates great AI progress, but on the other hand, it significantly amplifies the risk of catfishing, a deceit that already plagues the online dating world. The data clearly suggests people already use ChatGPT and AI to falsify their online profiles."

Anne isn't even the only person to fall for a Brad Pitt catfish in recent years. According to the Irish Examiner, two women in Spain fell for similar scams that cost them €325,000. The Spanish police were able to locate and arrest five perpetrators and recover some of that money, but not all of it.

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