Brad Pitt Calls AI Dating Scam 'Awful,' Issues Warning to Fans

Brad Pitt is warning fans against scammers after an impersonator convinced a French woman into believing they were the actor.

As TMZ reported earlier this week, per French network TF1's show Sept à huit, the 53-year-old woman, identified as Anne, was duped out of $853,000 after believing she was talking to Pitt, with the impersonator claiming he was hospitalized.

False AI-generated images of the actor showed him expressing different emotions in a fake hospital setting. Despite the clearly doctored photos, Anne believed them to be genuine and, for one year, thought that Pitt needed a kidney treatment.

The scam ended after Pitt went public with his new girlfriend Inés de Ramón last year ahead of his divorce from Angelina Jolie. The actor has now issued a statement via spokesperson on being impersonated.

"It’s awful that scammers take advantage of the strong bond between fans and celebrities," Pitt's spokesperson said, per Variety. "This is an important reminder not to respond to unsolicited online messages, especially from actors who are not present on social networks."

According to reports, Anne has been the target of bullying and mockery on social media ever since the TF1 episode aired, to the point where the episode has been removed from social media platforms.

The woman said that she was in the process of divorcing her millionaire husband when she began talking to the impersonator.

"Now, to begin with, I’ve never cheated on my husband in my life because I’m a caring woman," she told French magazine Madame Le Figaro. "I’m not crazy or corny, as some people say or write on social networks."