According to the documentary, a scammer used AI-generated media to gain Anne’s trust, ultimately convincing her to divorce her husband and deplete her savings to support the alleged “Brad Pitt.”
Amid widespread online harassment, Anne is now reportedly hospitalized for severe depression following three attempts to take her own life.
TF1has consequently apologized and removed the documentary from its online platform.
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Image credits:focusminutes
“Since the broadcast, Anne has faced ridicule online, with many mocking her supposed gullibility, a quick and easy judgment given the growing number of sophisticated scams targeting vulnerable people,” theFrench network wroteon Tuesday (January 14).
“In response to the widespread mockery and thesmear campaignshe became a target of on social media, we decided, in collaboration with the victim, to remove the replay of the broadcast to halt the phenomenon,” Grégoire Marçais, deputy director ofTF1’s production company, added.
Image credits:Gilbert Flores/Variety
She criticizedTF1‘sSept à Huit, the name of its documentary series, for misrepresenting her story.
“I’ve nevercheated on my husbandin my life because I am a kind-hearted woman, not crazy or naive as some claim on social media,” Anne said.
She added: “I just wanted to help someone. I admit I was deceived, and that’s why I spoke out – I am not the only one in this situation.
Anne, a 53-year-old interior decorator, quickly became the laughingstock of francophone internet
Image credits:dailyzap_tv
According to the victim,TF1’s intentions were misleading, as she explained: “I have no roof over my head.
“My life now consists of a 6 square meter box with a few boxes inside. This is what I have left.
“As for the scammers, I said more than 40 times, maybe more, that I didn’t believe it. I clearly said that photo was fake.
“But in the report, none of that was mentioned. The journalist stayed for two days to interview me, and he only chose what would tarnish my image.
“It was all about getting views.”
Anne further exclaimed: “I’m a sensible woman. If you had been in my place, you’d have fallen into the trap.
“If someone comes and talks to you kindly, says things you’ve never heard from your own husband, yes, yes, you fall for it.
“That’s how it happened.”
The bizarre tale began in February 2023 when Anne, new to Instagram, created an account, initially to share vacation photos of skiing trips with her husband and daughter,Madame Figaroreported on Tuesday.
According to the documentary, a scammer used AI-generated media to gain Anne’s trust
Image credits:osint_random/TF1
“Brad Pitt” subsequently contacted Anne, which left her skeptical at first. Nevertheless, Anne eventually fell for the honey trap.
“I had someone who showed interest in me and my work when my own husband didn’t care,” Anne recalled in the documentary.
She added: “I loved the man I was talking to. He knew how to speak to women. These are photos he made for me.”
She continued: “He sent me pictures, and when I searched for them, I couldn’t find them anywhere.
“So I thought: these must be photos he made just for me.”
He ultimately convinced Anne to divorce her husband and deplete her savings to support the alleged “Brad Pitt”
Anne subsequently gave her entire settlement fortune to the fake Brad Pitt, who at the time claimed to have kidneycancer.
The fraudster explained that he needed money for surgery, as his accounts were supposedly frozen due to adivorce from Angelina Jolie.
Image credits:LEGEND
“It was hard for me to do, but I thought I might be saving a man’s life,” Anne recounted in the documentary. In total, she transferred a whopping €830,000 to the scammer.
A French hacker has since announced that he successfully tracked down Anne’s swindler and claimed he was optimistic about recovering the money she lost.
Anne was hit with a wave of ridicule on social media after she fell victim to the scam
He further explained: “Romance scams typically originate from Nigeria, Benin, or other parts of Africa, though occasionally from the Philippines.
“The scammer converted everything intocryptocurrency.”
According to Marwan, the scammer initially funneled the money into foreign bank accounts before converting it into cryptocurrency.
The hacker revealed: “We tracked the funds and identified the wallet address currently holding the money.
“We even discovered the scammer’s house, name, and other significant details.”
“This gave us full control of his phone.”
Amid widespread online harassment,TF1apologized and removed the documentary
Image credits:NetflixFR
In a surprising turn of events, Marwan uncovered that Anne’s scammer had also been impersonating another well-known celebrity.
He said: “In addition to posing as Brad Pitt, this individual was alsopretending to be Keanu Reeves, the actor fromJohn Wick.
“It was too much, so we reported him to local authorities. As of now, everything is in motion, and I expect he’ll be arrested in the coming days.
“We are hopeful Anne will recover her €830,000.”
“This individual has been exploiting the identities of Brad Pitt and Keanu Reeves, deceiving at least 30 people.”
He added: “As of today, Anne is confirmed to be the most significant victim of celebrity identity fraud scams worldwide.”
A French hacker has since announced that he successfully tracked down Anne’s swindler
Similarly to Anne’s ordeal with the Brad Pitt scam, Katherine Goodson, a 67-year-old widow from San Diego, California, fell victim to a romance scam involving a fraudster impersonating Keanu Reeves, losing over $60,000 and ending up homeless.
The Keanu Reeves scammer groomed her for over two years, exploiting her loneliness and vulnerability.
Experts warned that such scams prey on emotions through tactics like love-bombing, urging for stronger education and community support to protect potential victims.
“It’s terrible how scammers prey on people’s kindness and trust,” a reader commented
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