Brad Pitt romance scam

[TwistedWonder]

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/french-woman-faces-online-mockery-after-being-conned-out-of-700-000-by-fake-brad-pitt-13289657

First of all I want you to say that no one deserves to be scammed and I’m sorry this woman lost money but come on, how naive does someone have to be to fall for this?

The photos are so poor that surely anyone with eyes can see they’re fake. And since when did a A+ celebs mum contact randoms on SM?

To seriously think Brad Pitt can’t afford medical treatment and needs money sent to his American doctors Turkish bank account - words fail me.

How have you become an adult and not been aware that some people have learning difficulties. Do you think it’s kind or appropriate to mock them or is there another reason for this thread?

I read this and thought the same. It is baffling that there are still people around who’ll believe scams like this. I have seen the photos and got the gist of the story but don’t know much about the woman- is it possible she has learning difficulties or some sort of cognitive impairment? If so, I would feel very sympathetic to her.

I did laugh quite a lot at the photos though, I’m afraid to say.

You're right it is hard the believe someone can be this stupid. I know someone will attack me for saying that, because she probably is/should be classed as vulnerable. However, calling a spade a spade vulnerable or not - its bloody stupid!

I have tried to rationalise it with myself, thinking perhaps her eyes really were that shit, as in - could she be partially sighted? But then i think, if you're falling deeply in love with someone and its apparently reciprocated - yet they are always unavailable on the phone? He's a millionaire yet he can't afford some basic treatments? He's posted gifts but you have to pay customs? Too many red flags!!

Has she been confirmed as having a learning / other disability?

Should we say anyone who is scammed has a disability?

Agreed. Awful to start a thread on this
An extremely vulnerable woman was scammed and has loads of online and media ridicule (the headline linked refers to online mockery) so the OP thinks, hey I'll start another thread to add to it.

Married to a millionaire, but with learning difficulties this severe? Seems unlikely.

Why oh why are the majority of people who are scammed via 'romance scams' women? Are women just a lot more trusting gullible than men, or are there the same number of men this happens to who are are rightfully too embarrassed to admit it?

I mean, this one is ridiculous and pretty extreme, but there are endless stories of (normally older) women sending money to young men in other counties who 'love them very much and are going to marry them, and think they're very beautiful and the age gap isn't important' etc.... Nobody deserves to be fleeced out of their savings, but honestly, why are people still so naive?

leaening difficulties don’t need to be severe to fall fir this type of scam once you add in other vulnerabilities such as her confirmed mental health issues. Mental health issues that were severe enough for her to be hospitalised at the time of the broadcast. The interview was then pulled due to online trolling.

Agreed.

I do wonder if it’s some form of mental illness though.

In most of these cases, a sort of madness comes over people because they want it to be true / are being ‘lovebombed’.

I’ve seen many of these scams where they claim to be incredibly wealthy but can’t access money for whatever reason.

Some people fall for scraps of attention. I see it on here daily.

Anyone who tries to help is seen as jealous so I’m sure the woman in this case wouldn’t have listened.

I know it’s awful but I did laugh when I saw the pictures they are so bad. I feel so bad for the woman and we shouldn’t victim blame but we are talking about someone with a lot of money if they were scammed out of over £700k, it’s not someone sitting in a lonely council flat being drawn into sending a hundred quid to an African prince, there must surely be some element of common sense there or at least people helping her look after the money if she does in fact have some sort of learning disability.

Brad Pitt is in the public eye all the time, a quick google would show that he is fine.

It reports she was hospitalised after she went public and because of the mockery she received (not saying someone wouldn't feel depressed because of it) I haven't read anything yet to say that "despite her confirmed mental health issues, the interior designer with her own business and divorcing a millionaire... "

Fucking hell, it seems no one can take responsibility for their own actions, bad decisions etc... there ALWAYS has to be some kind of tenuous reason.

Never seem to hear the same cheerleading for severely mentally ill people who are not in control of their actions who have made bad choices, decisions... I would be really interested in knowing why.

People with learning difficulties don’t generally have access to £700,000.

Vulnerable people can be groomed or manipulated into anything, that's how people become terrorists.

In her case she was desperately looking for someone to love her, she was going through cancer and a divorce. It probably took her mind off it all.

Well, quite. And Brad's not even particularly fanciable nowadays.

Threads like this make me quite uncomfortable.

Yes, the photos are amusing and clearly photoshopped but that just shows that the lady involved must be incredibly vulnerable and not someone to be mocked or ridiculed.

I briefly saw this covered on something last week. BBC breakfast perhaps, or the program immediately after it.

The woman presenting the item went to great lengths about not victim blaming, using a silly analogy about theft in general. It struck me as an incredibly irresponsible approach, because this type of crime IS massively preventable.

Sure, but she has to be able to apply a bit of logic surely? Over the course of the year did she not once see him pictured at an event, or wonder why his rich pals like George Clooney wouldn’t lend him the ££? If she’d told even one person in her life (and who wouldn’t, if they were dating a megastar?) they surely would have raised questions.

I’m sorry, but those photos are hilariously poorly done.

It's like the Netflix docu-show the Tinder Swindler (spoiler alert if you haven't watched...) about the woman who fell in love with her cousin pretending to be a man. It seemed so bloody ridiculous, but when you watch the show they start small and just kept convincing her.
I don't think it was mental health or learning difficulties, she was just lonely and they were very convincing. They used multiple accounts to pretend to be mutual friends, and were even in a group chat.

You hear about it with old men far more, sending money to poor pretty young things like those "women" would actually like them.
Learning difficulties aside, it's so bonkers they believe it.
But I've learnt that in order for me to understand why things happen, I have to understand that not everyone is like me or the people I know.
Sadly there are loads of people who would fall for this stuff.

If her learning difficulties are that severe perhaps she shouldn’t have easy access to £700,000?

Nobody in their right mind gets scammed the way this lady has been.

Maybe his AI version is?

Even though the photoshop is crap, I can understand her falling for the sob story, and desperately wanting it to be true. I can't understand though how she never saw anything about Brad Pitt online or in the media that proved it to be a lie.

It sounds more like she has MH issues vs learning difficulties. Unless we're classing being a bit thick as one.