Fraudsters use a variety of techniques! Recently, a 53-year-old divorced French woman was scammed out of a total of 830,000 euros (approximately 3.85 million ringgit) by a fraudster pretending to be Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt!
It is reported that the fraudster used AI technology to create "fake images" and videos to make the divorced woman believe she was in a relationship with Brad. Last Sunday, a woman named Anne appeared on a news program to recount how she was scammed by a "Brad Pitt." In February 2023, she went skiing at a resort in France and posted a "check-in" photo on social media. She was immediately contacted by a social media account claiming to be Brad Pitt's mother, followed by another account claiming that Brad's mother had introduced her to him. They began communicating and chatted online every day. At first, Anne did not believe it was really Brad Pitt, but later she was convinced and charmed by his sweet talk.
Anne was married at the time, to a wealthy man 19 years her senior, but their marriage was troubled. "Brad" took advantage of this and confessed his love to her, but he never wanted to talk on the phone, only sending texts and videos. At this point, "Brad" started taking action, claiming he bought many branded items to send to her but required her to pay 9,000 euros (about 41,000 ringgit) in "customs fees," which she never received.
Shortly after, "Brad" even proposed to her. Anne decided to divorce her husband and received 775,000 euros (about 3.59 million ringgit) in alimony. "Brad" then proactively asked for money, claiming he was suffering from kidney cancer and urgently needed treatment fees, using his bank account being frozen due to his divorce from Angelina Jolie as an excuse. He even sent multiple photos of himself bedridden to Anne, leaving her no choice but to comply. Later, Anne saw news of Brad's new girlfriend and realized she had been scammed. She reported it to the police last summer and is now undergoing treatment for depression.
Source: Dongwang