In recent news, a 53-year-old french woman was duped into parting ways with more than $850,000 thanks to a person who pretended to be Brad Pitt using a series of AI-generated videos and images. The movie star likely caught wind of the incident and has put out a statement bashing these individuals who take advantage of fans, while also laying down some valuable, but obvious advice for people to help protect them against future scams.
The victim, Anne, who was last reported to be hospitalized due to severe depression, was lured into a trap by a scammer whose identity is yet to be deduced. By using AI-generated videos and images, the 'fake' Brad Pitt managed to obtain a small fortune thanks to Anne's divorce settlement, with the news likely getting noticed by the actual Hollywood icon. Talking with Entertainment Weekly, Pitt says that it is 'awful' that scammers resort to such tactics to deprive people of their money, but also reminds unsuspecting individuals to stay away from actors and accounts that have no social media presence.
"It's awful that scammers take advantage of fans' strong connection with celebrities...but this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence."
After transferring a boatload of funds to treat the AI-generated Brad Pitt's kidney cancer treatment, Anne discovered that she became a victim of the scam when she saw that the real Pitt was with his new girlfriend, Ines de Ramon. After informing the police, Anne told media outlet Seven to Eight and she has never harmed anyone in her life, so why was she chosen as the next victim of these AI scams?
In light of what has transpired, perhaps people like Anne will be better prepared when facing such scams, but with con artists employing more sophisticated techniques when leveraging AI, not to mention that artificial intelligence getting more and more convincing, people will need to develop new levels of awareness when combating such malicious individuals.