A PENSIONER who believed she was in a romantic relationship with Brad Pitt was duped into handing over ten of thousands of her hard-earned cash.
The woman, using the name Patricia, was convinced for months she had fallen for the Hollywood actor and even spent three weeks alone in a hotel room waiting for him.
Instead, she has been the victim of an online scammer who posed as the Hollywood star and drained her savings.
Patricia said it began in 2024 when she followed his Instagram account and received a message from someone claiming to be his manager.
The person asked if she would like to speak to the actor directly, to which she quickly agreed.
She said: “We started communicating normally, like two people meeting, very gently.”
As time went on and their relationship developed, messages between the two became more frequent.
Eventually, the man professed his feelings for her.
Speaking on the show Mise Au Point, she explained: “He asks me a lot of questions about what I feel, about how I like things, how I see life, and then one day he makes me understand that he is in love with me.”
He even sent several affectionate messages, including one that said: “My love, you are my everything now and forever.”
The con artist asked that Patricia keep the romance a secret from the public.
Instead of seeing this ruse for what it was, Patricia allowed herself to be misled.
She said: “This is a real relationship developing, so I’m letting myself drift into this feeling of love.”
The deception went up a notch when they discussed possibly meeting in person.
The fake Brad Pitt claimed he needed money to make the meeting possible, writing: “Baby, it’s $50,000 requested by my management.”
He claimed that it was a flat rate for anyone who wanted to spend time with him.
Patricia refused at first, but eventually let herself believe it might be legitimate.
She explained: “Well, maybe that’s just how they do things… I’ve never been in contact with an actor before.”
She ended up sending thirty thousand dollars, followed by another twenty thousand.
She then packed a small bag, waiting for instructions to join him, but the Fight Club star never called her.
Instead, he sent flowers and a message that read: “I love you so much, baby.
“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
After sending these initial sums of money, Patricia found it increasingly difficult to walk away.
To make matter worse, the scammer then demanded another ten thousand dollars for supposed medical expenses, and then another ten thousand.
It was then suggested that she meet him in the United States.
She hastily booked a flight to Los Angeles, convinced she would finally get to meet the man of her dreams.
However, she ended up spending three weeks in a hotel by herself.
Brad Pitt never arrived, but she did part ways with another twenty thousand dollars before returning home.
Back home in Switzerland, she came across a story about a French woman who had lost nearly £700,000 to another Brad Pitt impersonator.
Interior designer Anne, 53, was scammed into funding fake cancer treatment for the star after receiving AI-generated selfies.
The cruel romance lasted over a year and cost Anne her fortune, her marriage, and her mental health.
Patricia said it was only after hearing this that she started seeing similarities in their stories.
She eventually went to the police to make an official complaint.
When they asked her how much money she had lost, she told the cops that it was “almost 100,000 francs”.
Although she is now trying to rebuild her life, she said the emotional damage had taken its toll.
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She said: “There’s an indescribable shame.
“I know I spent almost a year living a relationship that didn’t exist.”