First she was scammed and then harassed on social media for having been the victim of a scam. A 53-year-old French woman suffers an avalanche of criticism and ridicule on social networks after, in which someone pretending to be the well-known actor seduces people and takes money from them. They stole 830,000 euros from her. The fraudster approached her in February 2023 on the social network Instagram and entangled her in his trap for a year and a half. He posted fake images of the Hollywood star in different everyday situations and even sent her a video generated with Artificial Intelligence: “He sent me photos and when I searched online, I didn’t see them,” the victim said in the television program. French Seven to eight to explain that this was why she thought they were snapshots taken for her.
The television channel TF1, where the report was broadcast, has already removed the content about it after it became the . The usurper of Brad Pitt’s identity received a significant amount of money from this woman, to whom he told that he needed surgery for kidney cancer and did not have access to his bank accounts because of the . She was also going through a difficult emotional moment with her husband.
After 18 months, she discovered the deception when the press reported that the actor was beginning a romantic relationship. The victim, who suffers from depression, lives at a friend’s house after losing almost all of her assets to the scam, including the 775,000 euros she received after her divorce. “I wonder why they chose me to harm me to such an extent. “I have never hurt anyone in my life,” he lamented.
His participation on television unleashed a wave of jokes against him. After rampant cyberbullying, the program Seven to Eight communicated in X the elimination of its passage through the chain: “We deal with social issues neutrally. The report aired on Sunday unleashed an avalanche of harassment against a testimony. To protect the victims, we have decided to remove it from our platforms.”
Scam cases in Spain
This scam is neither new nor exclusive to France. In 2022, to a middle-aged woman from Granada, Brad Pitt on Facebook, interaction on the social network increased and the scammers, hidden in the group of fans, posed as the actor so that she would fall in love with him with the ultimate goal of requesting money from him in exchange for false promises. The impostors made her believe that the famous performer would meet her in person and that they would record a movie together. The woman transferred 30,000 euros in one go.
There are two other cases in Spain. Another resident of Granada lost 175,000 euros due to this scam and a person in Vizcaya had 150,000 euros stolen. This police operation, which began shortly after the first case in Spain became known, resulted in five detainees and 10 under investigation.
According to the Civil Guard, the cybercriminals studied the victims’ social networks and created a psychological profile, thus discovering that both people were vulnerable, with emotional deficiencies and in a depressed state. From there, and through WhatsApp, they began a constant dialogue with them until they made them believe that they were in a loving relationship. Then came the time to ask for money for various projects, which people transferred little by little.
