Brad Pitt fans, be warned: there are people out there looking to steal from you with catfish accounts and illegal tricks.
A representative for the actor spoke to Entertainment Weekly after a 53-year-old French woman was tricked out of $850,000. Using a combination of AI images and fake messages, Anne, a French interior designer, was coaxed into believing she was in a relationship with the actor.
"It's awful that scammers take advantage of fans' strong connection with celebrities … but this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence," said Pitt's representatives.
The woman chronicled her plight in an interview with French TV show "Seven to Eight." She was first contacted on Instagram by an account claiming to be Pitt's mother, and a few days later, another account claimed to be Pitt himself.
Anne was initially suspicious, but then claimed she wasn't "used to social media and didn't really understand what was happening to her," the woman to France 24.
Scammers claimed Pitt needed funds for his kidney treatment. They claimed the actor could not use his own money because his accounts were frozen due to ongoing divorce proceedings with ex-wife Angelina Jolie.
The scammers sent AI images of Pitt in a hospital bed to further fool her. Anne then sent the $850,000 and also divorced her husband to pursue a relationship with whom she thought was Brad Pitt. When Anne saw a picture of Pitt and partner Inés de Ramon together, she realized it was all a scam.
The "Seven To Eight" episode was soon pulled due to the woman receiving a lot of online harassment.
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Murjani Rawls may be reached at mrawls@njadvancemedia.com
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