NewStats: 3,261,023 , 8,172,931 topics. Date: Wednesday, 28 May 2025 at 05:20 AM 566i68

A scammer who conned a French woman out of almost £700,000 by posing as Brad Pitt has been tracked down in Nigeria, according to local media reports.

Marwan Ouarab, founder of the site Find My Scammer, has been helping victim Anne to find the person responsible for scamming her out of £697,000 using deep fake images.

It comes after the 53-year-old divorcee shared with French media this week that she had parted with a fortune to help with what she believed was cancer treatment for the film star.

According to 20 Minutes, Mr Ouarab ed the fake Brad Pitt using information given to him by Anne.

He then sent him a 'booby-trapped link' disguised in a message, which when clicked on, gave him access to the con artist's phone.

This was a success, Mr Ouarab told the news outlet, and his team managed to uncover the identity of the scammer, as well as the address for where he carries out his scams in Nigeria.

Not only that, but Mr Ouarab said the scammer is now pretending to be another A-list celebrity with the aim of scamming other victims out of a fortune.

'Today, he is still active, except that he is now pretending to be Keanu Reeves,' he told 20Minutes.

Mr Ouarab added: 'It's a small group of three or four fairly young people who are causing damage. On the fake Brad Pitt's device alone, we counted 34 victims.'

He told the news outlet he had ed the Nigerian authorities and has promised to hand over all the information he had on the scammer.

Victim Anne told French channel TF1 that she had received a message on social media from someone claiming to be the actor's mother before hearing from an she believed to be Brad Pitt himself.

Anne thought she had grown close to the actor after months of talking, before things took a romantic turn. But after disclosing that she had separated from her millionaire partner, she said she was asked for money to help with health complications as his money was tied up in divorce proceedings.

The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp s, as well as AI image-creating technology to send Anne what appeared to be selfies and messages from Pitt, stringing her along until things came to a head last summer.

The victim ultimately realised the mistake when she saw that the actor was not, in fact, in hospital, and had been pictured with a new girlfriend. She was later hospitalised with severe depression, but decided to speak out and raise awareness.

Responding to Anne's story, The Fight Club actor's agent told Entertainment Weekly that it was 'awful' that 'scammers take advantage of the strong bond between fans and celebrities', before warning others 'not to respond to unsolicited' messages, 'especially from actors who have no social media presence'.

Since speaking out about her experience, Anne says she has been on the receiving end of a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading to the interview being withdrawn.

'The story broadcast this Sunday has resulted in a wave of harassment against the witness,' TF1 presenter Harry Roselmack wrote on his X on Tuesday. 'For the protection of victims, we have decided to withdraw it from our platforms.'

Anne was said by the channel at the time of its broadcast to have been suffering from severe depression and received hospital treatment.

The interview, in which she was filmed openly and even shared family photos with reporters, went viral on Monday.

It sparked a deluge of mocking comments and jokes, but some online critics accused TF1 of failing to protect a vulnerable individual who might not have been unaware of the consequences of going public.

Toulouse Football Club tweeted that 'Brad told us that he would be at the stadium on Wednesday' for the team's next match, before withdrawing the message and apologising.

Netflix also posted on social media promoting 'four films to see with Brad Pitt (really) for free'.

Anne, a 53-year-old interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and half believing she was communicating with Pitt and only realised she had been scammed when news emerged of Pitt's real-life relationship with girlfriend Ines de Ramon.

She told the 'Seven to Eight' programme on the TF1 channel that the ordeal started when she received a message on social media from someone claiming to be the actor's mother after sharing photos of her lavish ski trip to Tignes on Instagram.

'She told me that her son needed someone like me,' Anne said.

Just a day later, she received a second message from an posing as Brad Pitt, saying his mother had spoken a lot about her already.

The victim, who said she was going through a difficult period with her millionaire husband, said she struck up an unlikely friendship with the from February 2023, receiving poems and kind affirmations.

'There are so few men who write you this kind of thing. I liked the man I was talking to. He knew how to talk to women, it was always very well done,' she said, as reported by BFMTV.

She revealed she did have her suspicions and thought the was fake at first, but after messaging every day and receiving AI generated photos and videos of the star, she became more at ease.

Soon the blossoming friendship took a turn as the fake Brad Pitt proposed to her and overwhelmed her with the promise of fancy gifts.

The only catch was that she would need to pay customs fees to receive them. This soon added up to 9,000 euros (£7,566).

'Like a fool, I paid... Every time I doubted him, he managed to dissipate my doubts,' she said.

With the victim already having shown willing to part with money, the scammer went on to make more and more absurd requests.

When the victim told her 'friend' that she was expecting a hefty divorce settlement from her husband, the scammer upped the stakes.

The Brad Pitt appealed for help in funding urgent kidney cancer treatment, lamenting that they could not access funds due to their ongoing divorce from Angelina Jolie.

The scammer reportedly began sending AI-generated photos of Brad Pitt apparently from the confines of a hospital bed.

The two communicated by text and with photos, but the victim said he was never free for a call - a trope of online scam artists.

In sum, she parted with nearly one million euros over the course of the relationship until her suspicions were roused by seeing the actor with his new girlfriend, Ines de Ramon, in the press.

Anne went to the authorities with the story, who launched an investigation.

It was unclear whether she had been able to recoup any of her money nearly two years since the relationship started.

BFMTV reports that the victim is currently hospitalised in a clinic, with severe depression.

Followers of the story shared some sympathy for the victim.

Sarah Bee wrote on X: 'Romance scams are the cruellest.'

Another questioned whether the victim could have Googled whether the star was in hospital to the claims.

The victim parted with nearly one million euros before her suspicions were roused.

She started having doubts when the star was pictured not in hospital - and with his new partner.


She started having doubts when the star was pictured not in hospital - and with his new partner

One weighed in: 'Why you need to know what your old folks are up to before they give away your inheritance to Brad Pitt'

Jay Kennedy replied: 'My step mom will not stop sending money to the Cello player.

'My father and I keep telling her. She just keeps going to get gift cards.

'It's sad how lonely and lost older people get. To where they are so delusional and do this.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14291513/Brad-Pitt-scammer-tracked-Nigeria-reveals-scam.html

Naija my country...

hmmmm. Somebody use to frequent since last two years. Let it not he what am thinking.

One Benin boy don pack am for celeb unto Brad Pitt
If na me, na to find one cool Caribbean country go and go incognito there.

Him own duh finish lol he will vomit all the money. Idiot. They are never satisfied... €700k and you never start up a business that will be fetching you that amount, at least in 2 years.

Idris Elbar go sell.

Somewhere in our mind, we are proud that Nigerians pulled a clean AI scam so soon.
Like we beat a whole techie/scamming India to the title.

Naija to the world!

Hushpuppi would be proud right now!

The news is verified.

Why is it this lengthy...you for summarize am o.

@nlfpmod

Rexymania:
Him own duh finish lol he will vomit all the money. Idiot. They are never satisfied... €700k and you never start up a business that will be fetching you that amount, at least in 2 years.

baba don already go buy house for lekki, buy gle 63s or Lamborghini urus, the rest na to carry expensive ashawo

Artists scammers

Many of the victims themselves should be locked up. How can you send money to someone you have never met

This our bad image wey we dey manage this boy don go do another one. But I'll be lying if I say I'm not impressed.

Oya EFCC go and do mid-night raid o. Na snakes dem go use kill una dis time.

derico:
Somewhere in our mind, we are proud that Nigerians pulled a clean AI scam so soon.
Like we beat a whole techie India to the title.

Naija to the world!

Hushpuppi would be proud right now!

Indians are using their knowledge to become big honest CEO's world over,but Nigerians are using theirs to create bad image world over.

When will Africa use their God given talent rightly…it’s just crazy, how a few is painting the country image wrongly.

That’s how the last time I visited SA, some junkies were just asking if I had Marijuana. I felt embarrassed…but nor be their fault 🤦🏽‍♂️

E no go Yoruba boy

Bb

Lol
What's going to be annoying is that, the Brad Pitt won't even establish a company ( even if na boutique).

He'd be smoked out for sure

Most likely , probably in your whole life, you would never ever hep people in need.
But you will send money for this.

ibechris:



Indians are using their knowledge to become big honest CEO's world over,but Nigerians are using theirs to create bad image world over.

Forget that thing. You think Nigerians do scam and wayo Indians? Una still de learn work where Indians de. They only thing I give Nigerians is their audacity...Go and ask those in Canada about call center scams and so on.

Omo!

Dude should be prepping for jail.

He is cooked already.

But of course.

For me, I am particularly pissed at the zero effort spent in generating the fake photos. That alone should earn the scammer some jail time.

We have foreigners in Nigeria taking advantage of our battered image to scam innocent victims

LILTJAY:
One Benin boy don pack am for celeb unto Brad Pitt
If na me, na to find one cool Caribbean country go and go incognito there.

After he don take wetin no belong to am abi??

If hand no touch am, na devastating accident go kill am or he get vital organ failure.
That's my wish for the scammer(s)

O ga o

Oyibos too mumu I swear.

ednut1:
Many of the victims themselves should be locked up. How can you send money to someone you have never met

Forget the never met
Brad pitt ffs
He would leave all the fine women in Hollywood and start messaging you?
And you are based in Europe and couldn't reach out to his management team to see if it's really him?
Smdh
As for the fraudster(s) they are the lowest of the earth and outright s*cum

Why are they rushing to report to news outlets on the progress of there investigation. The idiot should have been arrested by Nigerian authorities before this informations are made public.

Baba will soon ditch the phone and looking for ways to escape to a nearby country. Abi Dem put chip for him body to track am.

derico:
Somewhere in our mind, we are proud that Nigerians pulled a clean AI scam so soon.
Like we beat a whole techie India to the title.

Naija to the world!

Hushpuppi would be proud right now!

you will die miserably