A French woman has been mocked on social media after losing more than €830,000 (£700,000) to deceptionmers posing as the Hollywood actor Brad Pitt.
The 53-year-ageder interior arrangeer, understandn only as Anne, thought she was in a year-lengthy romantic relationship with the Fight Club and Ocean’s Eleven star.
But after uncovering up about her ordeal to tellers, she suffered so much trolling that the French television channel TF1 had to pull her intersee.
“The story widecast this Sunday has resulted in a wave of coercion aachievest the witness,” TF1 conshort-termer Harry Roselmack wrote on X.
“For the protection of victims, we have choosed to disinclude it from our platcreates,” he grasped.
At the time of the widecast, Anne was telled to have been suffering from cut offe depression.
Anne tageder TF1’s Seven to Eight show that, after begining to employ Instagram for the first time, she was communicateed by someone posing as Pitt’s mother.
“She tageder me that her son necessitateed someone enjoy me,” Anne elucidateed. The deceptionmers messaged her aachieve cut offal days afterwards, this time posing as Brad Pitt.
Anne shelp she began talking to the inrectify version of the actor sometime in February 2023 on branch offent social media and messaging platcreates, including WhatsApp.
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She even getd AI-produced selfies of the 61-year-ageder actor.
‘I repartner didn’t understand’
“At first I shelp to myself that it was inrectify, that it’s ridiculous,” Anne elucidateed to TF1. “But I’m not employd to social media and I didn’t repartner understand what was happening to me.”
Scammers began seeking money, telling Anne that Brad was in the hospital with kidney cancer and necessitateed money for treatment. He claimed his prohibitk accounts were frozen during divorce proceedings with ex-wife Angelina Jolie.
She eventupartner consentd to transfer a huge sum of money to a Turkish prohibitk account after receiving an email from the inrectify star’s “doctor”.
Scammers ‘deserve hell’
Anne shelp she finpartner authenticised she had been deceptionmed after she saw pictures of the authentic Brad Pitt with his current partner, Ines de Ramon.
“I ask myself why they chose me to do such harm enjoy this?” she tageder TF1. “I’ve never harmed anyone. These people deserve hell.”
Police are scatterigating the deception, but the intersee has triggered some social media posts making jokes at Anne’s expense.
French recentspaper Sud Ouest telled that Anne was going thraw divorce proceedings with a millionaire entrepreneur at the time and necessitateed hospital treatment for cut offe depression adhereing the deception.
A spokesperson for Brad Pitt tageder US outlet Entertainment Weekly: “It’s terrible that deceptionmers apshow achieve of fans’ sturdy uniteion with celebrities”, grasping it was “an transport inant reminder to not react to unask fored online outachieve, especipartner from actors who have no social media presence”.
Sky News has approached Brad Pitt’s spokesperson for comment.
