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https://www.productionai.institute/graph/events/evt-aiid-901

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Production AI Institute public record · AI Incident Database: Yahoo Boys Allegedly Used Deepfake Technology to Impersonate Brad Pitt and Defraud French Woman of $850,000 in Romance Scam · observed 2025-07-08
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AI Incident Database: Yahoo Boys Allegedly Used Deepfake Technology to Impersonate Brad Pitt and Defraud French Woman of $850,000 in Romance Scam

Three Nigerian "Yahoo Boys" scammers allegedly used AI-generated image manipulation tools, along with fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, to reportedly impersonate actor Brad Pitt and convince a French interior decorator, Anne, that she was in a romantic relationship with him. Over 18 months, they allegedly fabricated selfies and messages, reportedly leading Anne to divorce her husband and transfer $850,000 under the false pretense that Pitt needed money for kidney trea…

AI Incident Database · Incident 901

Operator lens (medium): inspect D2 (output validation), D6 (autonomy oversight), D7 (tool permissions).

Confidence
82%
Sources
3
Entities
7
Detected
detected 374d ago

Event summary

Three Nigerian "Yahoo Boys" scammers allegedly used AI-generated image manipulation tools, along with fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, to reportedly impersonate actor Brad Pitt and convince a French interior decorator, Anne, that she was in a romantic relationship with him. Over 18 months, they allegedly fabricated selfies and messages, reportedly leading Anne to divorce her husband and transfer $850,000 under the false pretense that Pitt needed money for kidney trea…

D2D6D7

Linked entities

  • deepfake-technology-developers

    organisation | 70%

  • yahoo-boys

    organisation | 70%

  • scammers-impersonating-brad-pitt

    organisation | 70%

  • brouteurs

    organisation | 70%

  • general-public-susceptible-to-ai-enhanced-scams

    organisation | 70%

  • brad-pitt

    organisation | 70%

  • anne-(french-interior-decorator)

    organisation | 70%

Related graph edges

EdgeTypeConfidence
ent-aiid-deepfake-technology-developers to ent-psf-d2maps to60%
ent-aiid-deepfake-technology-developers to ent-psf-d2maps to60%
ent-aiid-deepfake-technology-developers to ent-psf-d2maps to60%
ent-aiid-deepfake-technology-developers to ent-psf-d6maps to60%
ent-aiid-deepfake-technology-developers to ent-psf-d6maps to60%
ent-aiid-deepfake-technology-developers to ent-psf-d6maps to60%
ent-aiid-deepfake-technology-developers to ent-psf-d7maps to60%
ent-aiid-deepfake-technology-developers to ent-psf-d7maps to60%
ent-aiid-deepfake-technology-developers to ent-psf-d7maps to60%
ent-aiid-deepfake-technology-developers to ent-psf-d1maps to60%
ent-aiid-deepfake-technology-developers to ent-psf-d1maps to60%
ent-aiid-deepfake-technology-developers to ent-psf-d1maps to60%

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Event dates

  • Happened 12 Jan 2025

  • Detected 8 July 2025

Sources

  • AI Incident Database - Incident 901

    secondary | checked 9 July 2026

    Open source
  • French woman duped by AI Brad Pitt faces mockery online

    primary | checked 17 Jan 2025

    Open source
  • Woman who lost $850,000 to scammers posing as Brad Pitt faces wave of online harassment and mockery

    secondary | checked 17 Jan 2025

    Open source
Cite this record

"AI Incident Database: Yahoo Boys Allegedly Used Deepfake Technology to Impersonate Brad Pitt and Defraud French Woman of $850,000 in Romance Scam." https://www.productionai.institute/graph/events/evt-aiid-901 (observed 2025-01-12; retrieved 2026-07-17). PAI.

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