A 53-year-old French woman named Anne was scammed out of €830,000 by criminals using AI-generated images and fake social media accounts to impersonate Brad Pitt, convincing her she was in a romantic relationship with the actor who needed money for cancer treatment.
In February 2023, a 53-year-old French interior designer named Anne was contacted on Instagram by scammers posing as Brad Pitt's mother, then by someone claiming to be the actor himself. The criminals used AI-generated images, fake social media accounts, and WhatsApp to maintain an elaborate deception lasting 18 months. They sent Anne AI-created photos of Brad Pitt in hospital beds and fake news reports to convince her the actor had kidney cancer and needed financial assistance due to frozen bank accounts from his divorce proceedings with Angelina Jolie. Anne, who was going through her own divorce at the time, eventually transferred €830,000 (approximately $850,000) - nearly her entire divorce settlement - to accounts in Turkey. She realized it was a scam in June 2024 when she saw media reports of Pitt's real relationship with Ines de Ramon. Anne appeared on French TV show 'Sept à Huit' on TF1 to share her story, but the interview was subsequently removed due to widespread online harassment and mockery she received. Anne has since been hospitalized for severe depression and has filed a police complaint. According to investigators, the scammers are believed to be three Nigerian men in their twenties operating from Nigeria.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to gain a personal advantage over others such as through cheating, fraud, scams, blackmail or targeted manipulation of beliefs or behavior. Examples include AI-facilitated plagiarism for research or education, impersonating a trusted or fake individual for illegitimate financial benefit, or creating humiliating or sexual imagery.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed