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.

I have empathy for vulnerable people.
I do not have empathy for someone like yourself who comes on a thread such as this kicking someone whilst their down. This woman clearly wasn't in her right mind and is now in a mental health unit.
I was also groomed and drove to suicide, I was nearly successful twice and i was in ICU for 2 months. I thought it was the only way out.
You are the one judging here. You do not know her reasonings for sending this money. You are the one coming on her judging.
So don't you dare say I have no empathy.
Stop quoting me as I will no longer be engaging.

If you had nasty things happen to you, then why are you insulting other people.

You have been extremely aggressive on this thread.

I've reported the posts where you called me names.

You're going to stop engaging with me.

Great!!!

That is part of the whole picture though. She was not just contacted, and asked for money straight away. She would have been given intensive attention, something that was maybe lacking in her marriage, and a "relationship" would have been building up.

Eff off. I have actually had a brain injury and been in coma for 10 days subsequently as a result. Still doesn’t make me gullible. There is a plethora of information on social media, on the TV, etc that warns people about these scams. My 84 yo inlaws are aware and alert. My autistic teenagers are also aware and alert and double check phishing emails/texts.

You cannot legislate for idiocy, gullibility or naivety. Sometimes it is okay to lack a little empathy when you only have so much to go around. A random woman believing that Brad Pitt was engaging with her deserves none of mine.

Doesn't seem that applies in this situation, she was an interior designer, divorcing a wealthy businessman.

Of course I have, what??

I was contacted by a fake keanu reeves multiple times telling me i was beautiful .

I blocked him

We need to stop blaming victims of this crime, vulnerable or not. Many, many people fall victim to romance fraud (and othet types of fraud). The more we shame victims, the less it will be reported and the higher likelihood this pond life will get away with it. It really does make people feel shit to be told they're effectively stupid and deserved it.

I work in fraud investigation, and it's a real problem, where vulnerable people are deliberately targeted. It's sickening.

Indeed. Not sure why we are supposed to feel empathy for a woman who should have known better… and clearly had more money than sense.

I wouldn't call it victim blaming.

I would call it taking responsibility for your actions.

Her daughter has even said that she tried to intervene, and make her mother see sense and stop sending him money.

She said that her mother refused to listen to her.

Indeed. I think I read a report that said her daughter had tried to intervene but her mother dismissed her concerns.

From your work, can the funds be traced ever? I don't understand how thd banks can't trace where it goes and transfer it back in these cases

I agree@Whatafustercluck . Calling these people stupid, and other crass names, is not helpful, and would actually deter more people who have been affected by this sort of scams, from coming forward.

I don't know if they will maybe intervene more in fraud cases.

But I used to work for a bank.

People often sent money to the wrong bank account by accident.

All my bank could do was send a request to the other bank - asking them to trace the money and send it back.

The other bank could refuse to take the request, if they wanted.

There was literally nothing else we could do after that.

Some of the victims, as well as having their emotions engaged, do wind up with dollar signs in their eyes. The scammer will typically provide "evidence" in the form of fake bank accounts or other documents, or sometimes even a tale of gold bars, showing that they are worth millions, and when they get to the US, they and the victim will have a wonderful new life together.

Oh, but there's a snag. They just need to pay customs for the gold bars, or they need to pay for equipment to complete the job on the oil rig, or their bank account has been frozen. The victim just needs to pay to release the funds/buy them an air ticket, and could they also have some Steam cards for their living expenses please.
But of course it will all pay off, and then some, when they just make it to the States. But oh no, they've been in a crash on the way to the airport...
And so on.

We can't know of course, but it's a pretty well worn path for loved ones to do exactly that, only to be ignored because the target's so determined to believe it's the real deal

Calling these people stupid, and other crass names, is not helpful, and would actually deter more people who have been affected by this sort of scams, from coming forward

It's a fair point, @LadyKenya, but coming forward for what exactly?

If banks, loved ones, friends and so on have checked and warned and the person still insists on going ahead - and I see it's since been said the daughter tried to intervene and was ignored - I'm not sure there's much to be done beyond getting a sadface piece in some rag

With some of the men, they just think they should have a very attractive, much younger woman and will pay to get one. If this was about repulsive 60+ year old men in Thailand paying for women in their 20's (who often look like children), there'd be no empathy being preached ad no excuses about loneliness.

This was a married (to a millionaire) socialite who at best, was bored. She was on a skiing trip, with friends, when it started. She wouldn't listen to her friends. There's sometimes a level of arrogance with the victims. I include the ones who think they are working with the police/serious fraud squad. They see themselves worthy of being selected above everyone else.
Posters aren't being unsympathetic to actual vulnerable people.

This woman clearly wasn't in her right mind and is now in a mental health unit.

Well she’s in a clinic now because she believed in an illusion and lost a huge amount of money. There’s no evidence she was suffering from mental health issues at the time, simply naivety and credulousness.

Put it this way.

In the current phase I'm in, no way will I go intentionally dating online or joining a dating app etc.

I appreciate that though I am somewhat cognizant of what has been going on with me internally, some nefarious random giving me some attention and sweet words could, possibly, actually still get to me.

I hate to admit it but unfortunately it's true. I need to recover my equilibrium. It's all about where a person is in a certain stream of time and what state of mind they happen to be in. That's what can leave them vulnerable for a window of time.

There are just times when a person is more suggestible. Scammers know this. We should be casting approbation and judgement on them. Not the victims. Why should they suffer twice?!

This video highlights a woman who may have killed herself after being honey trapped (catfished,) scammed out of over a million dollars. At the end the expert says the shame and embarrassment victims can feel means scamming is seriously under reported. She is dead now.

So millionaires only marry intelligent people, is that what you're saying? Actually, the millionaire might well also have taken advantage of her. Just because he's rich doesn't mean he's decent.

I remember this one. From memory she had grown up children who were begging her not to continue, they provided evidence on the programme that he was a scammer etc, went to the address and it was a postal address etc and yet she still believed it to be true. I think she sold her house etc didn't she?

That is what I mean. Just getting their story out there, could infact be helping other people going through the same situation. If it gets even one person thinking differently, and changes their course of action, that would be a positive thing to have come out of some one else's misfortune.

So maybe it could have been anyone being nice to her & she would have fallen for it?

My point was that for a lot of us Brad Pitt getting in contact would be so unrealistic it would obviously be a scam.