Don't respond to unsolicited online outreach: Brad Pitt responds to French woman scammed of 8,00,000 euros

A French woman named Anne was convinced she was talking to actor Brad Pitt and was in a serious relationship with him. But, this dream-come true turned into a nightmare for the 53-year-old when she was swindled out of 800,000 euros.

After Brad Pitt's name was used by a scammer to impersonate him and swindle money from a woman, the American actor has responded to the incident.

According to media reports, the actor's spokesperson told Entertainment Weekly, "It’s awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities."

The spokesperson further said, "But this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence."

A French woman named Anne was convinced she was talking to actor Brad Pitt and was in a serious relationship with him. But this dream-come true turned into a nightmare for the 53-year-old when she was swindled 8,00,000 euros.

According to a report by NDTV, Anne came on a TV show called Sept à Huit where she talked about her ordeal. She claimed she was on a ski trip to Tignes when she received a message from an account which claimed to be that of Pitt's mother, Jane Etta Pitt.

A day passed by, and she received a message from someone who claimed to be Brad Pitt. The two started talking and soon became friends.

At the time, Anne was married to a millionaire and was having problems within her marriage. She continued talking to 'Pitt', who would write poems expressing his love for Anne. These events assured Anne that she was in a relationship with the actor Brad Pitt.

On the show, Anne said, "There are so few men who write such things. I liked the man I was talking to, and he knew how to talk to women."

The scammer always avoided calling her but sent Artificial Intelligence-generated videos which convinced Anne of Pitt's identity. He went one step further and even asked Anne to marry him.

But things started to take a turn for the worse when the scammer told Anne that he had sent her a luxury gift, but she has to pay 9,000 euros to receive it.

Anne told a French news channel BFMTV that she had received nothing.

Anne's marriage soon came to an end, and she received 7,75,000 euros as compensation. Around this time, the scammer started sending her doctored videos and photos claiming he had to undergo a kidney surgery and was admitted in a hospital.

He claimed that he needed some money from for this treatment and since he was going through a divorce with Angelina Jolie, his bank accounts were blocked.

Anne ended up wiring the money to the scammer. However, she got to know about the scam in 2024 when she saw reports of Brad Pitt's relationship with jewellery designer Ines De Ramon.

Anne said she was hospitalised for severe depression after that.