French victim of AI‑faked Brad Pitt romance details £700,000 loss and divorce in new book

A French interior designer-turned-author says she fell for an online romance orchestrated with artificial intelligence, in which scammers posed as Brad Pitt and siphoned more than £700,000 from her over 14 months. Anne Deneuchatel, 53, says the hoax ultimately led to the end of a troubled marriage and is now the focal point of her forthcoming book, Je ne serai plus une proie (I Will No Longer Be a Prey).

Deneuchatel says the romance began after a stranger on Instagram claimed to be Pitt’s mother and introduced her to the actor on the Telegram messaging app. She says she became “addicted” to talking to the man she believed was Pitt and lived in a total fantasy, describing a relationship she felt she could never have with her husband, whom she calls selfish and manipulative. She told Le Monde that her husband had “put me in a bind,” a dynamic she says contributed to her vulnerability to the deception.

Over the course of 14 months, from April 2023 to June 2024, the scammer — aided by AI-generated imagery and narratives — pressured her to transfer funds to cover supposed gifts, hospital fees and medical expenses tied to a supposed kidney cancer battle. At one point, she was told the actor’s bank account was frozen amid divorce proceedings with his ex-wife, and that he needed substantial sums to secure a lifesaving transplant and hospital care. The money was framed as necessary to keep the relationship afloat and to help “Brad” deal with real-world pressures, and images of a hospital bed allegedly tied to the actor reinforced the ruse.

The money trail grew quickly beyond any reasonable justification. Initial transfers were described as payments for customs charges on gifts, then escalated to cover medical bills and other urgent needs that the scammer claimed only Pitt could resolve. The deceit intensified as the con artists used AI-generated photographs to create the illusion of medical crises and a hospital environment, further blurring the line between fantasy and reality for Deneuchatel.

The deception culminated with a request for a £13,000 private jet trip and other entreaties that left her financially and emotionally depleted. By the time she realized she had been duped, she had already sent nearly £700,000. In a state of isolation and exhaustion, she reported the case to the police. Investigators later traced the operation to three men living in a villa in Nigeria who allegedly posed as “Brad” to drain victims around the world.

Deneuchatel has spoken publicly about her experience on French media and plans to publish the memoir this year. She has said the affair with the fake Pitt was a catalyst for ending her unhappy marriage; she describes the period as an “extended honeymoon” in which she felt fully herself, even as she was being drained financially and emotionally. She told Le Monde that the romance delivered a kind of validation and love that had been missing in her marriage, which she says made the eventual realization of the scam harder to confront.

“At a certain point, it seemed easier to help ‘Brad’ than to help myself,” she said, describing how the scam manipulated her sense of identity and belonging. She recalled that the scammers used messages and love poems to maintain the illusion, including a final message that purported to be from Pitt: “Love, my Telegram account has been hacked by imposters. I will now do everything in my power to ensure our safety. I am sincerely sorry if my lack of vigilance caused this situation.”

The case highlights how AI-driven impersonations can complicate romance scams and fuel financial losses for victims who are already vulnerable due to loneliness or personal turmoil. Le Monde and other outlets have covered Deneuchatel’s case as part of broader warnings about online dating fraud that leverages generated imagery and fabricated medical or personal crises to justify transfers of money.

Deneuchatel’s forthcoming book, written with the aim of helping others avoid similar traps, recounts the emotional rollercoaster and the eventual decision to part ways with a marriage she describes as stifling and controlling. She says the ordeal, while devastating, ultimately freed her to pursue independence and healing, even as the money could not be recovered.

Three Nigerian-based suspects were identified by investigators as the men behind the con, according to Deneuchatel’s account shared earlier this year on French television. The case remains emblematic of a broader trend in which online con artists exploit celebrity personas and AI-generated content to lure victims into costly, protracted scams. Deneuchatel emphasizes that the experience has taught her the importance of vigilance and digital skepticism, particularly in cases that begin with a glamorous or alluring online persona masquerading as a celebrity.

Her story is part of a larger conversation about the intersection of celebrity culture and personal life, where fans sometimes blur the lines between admiration and personal vulnerability. While the media attention surrounding her affair with a faux Pitt has been intense, Deneuchatel says the most important outcome is the divorce and a pivot toward rebuilding a life after trauma. She hopes her memoir will offer practical guidance to others facing similar schemes and encourage dialogue about the psychological impact of online romance fraud in the digital age.