Here's a story that — depending on your tech-savviness — could make you question everything: A 53-year-old French woman known only as "Anne" was scammed out of $855,000 by someone pretending to be Brad Pitt.
With AI-generated photos of a (fake) hospitalized Brad Pitt, Anne forked over $855,000 to help with his (fake) cancer treatment.
But before we get all smug and start calling her naïve, let's take a beat. The woman isn't tech-savvy, she's 53, going through a divorce, and dealing with depression. And not only did she get scammed, she didn't get much sympathy.
Instead, Anne got mocked.
She went on French TV to tell her story, and then faced a tsunami of online trolling so brutal that the French government immediately surrendered Paris and the TV station pulled her interview.
Even Netflix France got in on the act, posting "four films to see with Brad Pitt (really) for free" on X. 👇
(Apparently, Netflix France can do more than publish black-and-white artsy nonsense about smoking and out-of-control body hair.)
This is the world we live in now. AI is out here impersonating Brad Pitt, stealing identities, and asking for cash for fake cancer treatments. This is more than a scam: it's a sci-fi dystopia that's impacting more people than you'd think.
According to a global study carried out by cyber security giant McAfee, 25% of us have come across some kind of AI-voice scam, with these sorts of cons raking in $8.8 billion last year alone, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FEC).
So, let's cut Anne some slack. Yes, she fell for a scam, but we're all living in the Wild West now.
Good luck.
Follow Ian on Substack or X (@ighaworth).
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