AI Deepfake Ruin: Designer Lost $850,000 to 'Brad Pitt' But Calls Freedom 'Worth It'

In a startling cautionary tale that underscores the devastating power of modern AI-driven romance scams, Anne Deneuchatel, a 53-year-old interior designer, was swindled out of roughly \text{\textsterling}700,000 (€830,000/$850,000 USD) by an elaborate fraudster posing as Hollywood icon Brad Pitt. The designer is now homeless, broke, and hospitalized for severe depression, yet she views the ordeal as the high price of escaping her unhappy life.

The Year-Long Deception and Ruinous Affair

The sophisticated fraud began in February 2023 on Instagram. Deneuchatel, who was living what she described as a "gilded prison" with her millionaire entrepreneur husband in Mauritius, received a message from an account claiming to be Brad Pitt’s mother. The next day, the fake 'Brad' reached out, initiating a passionate, secret online affair.

Deneuchatel found herself deeply connected to her mysterious suitor, who was skilled at emotional manipulation. "I liked the man I was talking to. He knew how to talk to women, it was always very well done,” she recalled. The scammer fed her devotion with AI-generated photos and videos—including unsettling images of 'Brad' in a hospital bed—and a fake passport, claiming his finances were inaccessible due to his divorce from Angelina Jolie.

The emotional affair spurred Deneuchatel to divorce her husband, who was 19 years her senior and whom she described as "selfish and manipulative," leaving her "financially dependent." When she received a €775,000 compensatory payment from the divorce, the scammer escalated his demands. Claiming he needed urgent treatment for kidney cancer, he convinced her to wire nearly the entire sum. Her transfers included over \text{\textsterling}7,500 for fictitious 'customs fees' and more than \text{\textsterling}50,500 for the alleged medical bills.

The Double Betrayal and Aftermath

The tragic delusion was shattered in 2024 when Deneuchatel saw media coverage of the real Brad Pitt with his partner, Ines de Ramon. But the final financial blow came when she was manipulated again, sending an additional \text{\textsterling}4,200 to a person who falsely claimed to be an "FBI agent" offering to recover her lost funds.

Now residing with a friend and battling severe depression that required hospitalization, Deneuchatel has filed a police report, and an investigation into the massive fraud is underway.

Despite the devastating loss, the interior designer insists the scam served a destructive but necessary purpose: it forced her to leave her controlling marriage. "It seemed easier to help 'Brad' than to help myself," she confessed, highlighting her desperation to escape her old life. She now campaigns against cyber-scams, sharing her story in her upcoming book, "Je ne serai plus une proie" (I Will No Longer Be Prey).