Five people were arrested in Spain for impersonating Hollywood actor Brad Pitt in an alleged internet scam that bilked two women out of more than $350,000. This rare form of internet scams is but part of a growing trend of fraud on the internet, whose modus operandi is targeting the most vulnerable people by using the cover of celebrities to play with their victims’ emotions en route to financial fraud.
It all began when the fraudsters opened several fake fan pages in Pitt’s name, from which they would target emotionally vulnerable women. The two victims, who were valued in their 60s, got contacted over the internet and duped to believe they were romantically involved with the movie star.
Scammers used WhatsApp messages and emails to carefully work out the semblance that these women communicated directly with Brad Pitt. They tried to sell their trust by sending touching messages; they even made as many as five pages of handwritten letters, further reinforcing that personal touch. This emotional manipulation only got worse over time, as these victims were convinced that Pitt was not only interested in them romantically but also needed them for a number of personal and financial matters.
Once they had succeeded in winning the confidence of the victims, there was financial investment. By masquerading as Pitt, they proposed the idea of investing romantically in these women by asking them to invest in projects that they had in mind, which they claimed would contribute to his business projects. They used threatening intimate relationships and returns on their investments as a means of getting the women to send huge sums of money. Finally, these investments added up to more than $350,000 that had left the women devastated both financially and emotionally.
It came into the open when one of the victims, suspicious of the operation, approached the authorities. In an extensive operation, Spanish police arrested three out of five perpetrators in November 2023, and the remaining two suspects were arrested in July 2024. These individuals are seriously accused of fraud and money laundering.
This has caused the victims more than financial loss; it is also an emotional loss. Both females were led to believe that each was involved in a real relationship with Brad Pitt, only for their hopes and trust to be torn to bits when the truth became obvious. The impact has been very deep because they lost huge amounts of money and their self-esteem due to the heartbreak of finding out that their relationships were fictional.
One of the victims-a woman who wished to remain anonymous-recounted,
“It felt so real. I really felt that I had the opportunity to create something with somebody I admired. There is no feeling of betrayal to understand.”
Authorities have been able to recover only about $95,000 of the stolen money, while the rest is not accounted for. Representatives for Brad Pitt went so far as to issue a public advisory in light of the case, reminding people that he does not have any social media accounts and does not engage with fans directly online. They called on the public to be cautious about unsolicited messages or online relationships claiming to be from celebrities.
“Brad does not contact fans via any social media platforms,”
a spokesperson said.
“Any message claiming otherwise is a scam. We ask that everyone be aware and not get scammed by these predators.”
These five arrests serve as an indicator of the greater awareness required in the use of the internet, specifically about people presenting themselves as celebrities. This case actually bankrupted the ladies emotionally and raped them of their money. The emotional and financial consequence affects the victims with serious damage. It mirrors the need for skepticism while walking cautiously in all virtual relationships.
