“It is terrible that scammers benefit from followers’ sturdy reference to celebrities,” Pitt mentioned in a press release by way of his rep, earlier than sharing his warning to others who could discover themselves in one other precarious scenario with a purported celeb.
Brad Pitt’s staff launched a press release after a scammer posing as him allegedly conned a French girl out of near one million {dollars}.
Earlier this week, it was reported that 53-year-old girl, recognized solely as Anne, was conned out of $850,000 by a catfish posing because the 61-year-old Oscar-winning actor. The alleged con artist made her consider that they had been relationship and proceeded to ask her for assist paying for medical care, sharing AI generated pictures of Pitt from a hospital mattress.
After the story and the faux pictures of the As soon as Upon a Time in Hollywood actor rapidly went viral, Pitt launched a press release by way of his rep, calling the ordeal “terrible.”
“It is terrible that scammers benefit from followers’ sturdy reference to celebrities, however this is a vital reminder to not reply to unsolicited on-line outreach, particularly from actors who haven’t any social media presence,” Pitt’s rep shared in a press release with E! Information.
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In response to U.Okay. outlet, The Instances, Anne reportedly informed French tv station, TF1, that all of it went down after she was contacted by somebody claiming to be Pitt’s mom, who informed her, “It is a girl such as you that my son wants.”
Whereas Anne was skeptical at first, she saved involved with the particular person earlier than she was messaged by somebody posing as Pitt.
“At first I mentioned to myself that it was faux, that it is ridiculous,” Anne informed TF1. “However I am not used to social media and I did not actually perceive what was occurring to me.”
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Anne first despatched practically €10,000 to the scammer, or roughly $10,300, after they mentioned they wanted her to pay customs tariffs so she may obtain items they claimed to have despatched to her.
“There are so few males who write you this type of factor,” Anne mentioned. “I favored the person I used to be speaking to. He knew speak to girls, it was all the time very effectively carried out.”
Anne then reportedly informed the scammer that she had not too long ago divorced her husband, and proceeded to ship $800,000 to the faux Brad after they mentioned they’d developed kidney most cancers and wanted a mortgage as a result of his financial institution accounts had been frozen on account of his divorce proceedings with Angelina Jolie — Pitt has since not too long ago finalized his divorce with Jolie, eight years after their break up.
A lady in France was scammed out of €830,000 after believing she was in a relationship with Brad Pitt.
These are the pictures she acquired, allegedly from Brad Pitt, that satisfied her. pic.twitter.com/DHZklWbUDj
— The Oscar Race (@TheOscarRace) January 13, 2025
@TheOscarRace
The scammer reportedly despatched Anne AI-generated pictures of Pitt’s face over males in hospital beds to strengthen their case.
Issues took a flip, nevertheless, when the Anne learn that the actual Pitt was in a relationship with Ines De Ramon. She resolve to confront the scammer, who reportedly despatched her one thing denying the reviews. After seeing increasingly articles about Pitt’s relationship, Anne realized that she had been scammed. She has since filed a lawsuit and a police are investigating the matter.
“I ask myself why they selected me to do such hurt like this?” Anne mentioned throughout her look on Sept à huit, in accordance with French outlet AFP. “I’ve by no means harmed anybody. These individuals deserve hell.”
