Brad Pitt releases statement after woman was tricked into sending £700,000 to impersonator for cancer treatment

In case you somehow missed it, a woman in France was scammed out of £700,000 by a fraudster posing as Brad Pitt and claiming he needed money for 'cancer treatment'.

The 53-year-old woman, who has been named as Anne, believed she was talking to the Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood actor after being approached by his 'mother' on social media.

Anne would then receive a message from 'Brad' himself and the account soon began asking her for money for 'cancer treatment' and claiming the actor's divorce from Angelina Jolie had left him short of funds.

The fraudster then created a series of questionable AI-generated images of Pitt in hospital to add, erm, legitimacy to scam. Take a look at them below:

The Brad Pitt images in question (TF1)

Unfortunately Anne ended up sending the account €830,000 (£697,000).

The viral story has now taken another bizarre turn, after news of the scam reached Mr Pitt himself. And he's not impressed by the grifter using his image for financial gain.

"It’s awful that scammers take advantage of the strong bond between fans and celebrities," a spokesperson said on behalf of Pitt, before sharing a general reminder about internet safety.

"This is an important reminder not to respond to unsolicited online messages, especially from actors who are not present on social networks."

Unfortunately this message has come a little too late for Anne, who is now not only hundreds of thousands of Euros down but not about to marry a Hollywood actor.

The story has now made its way back to the actor (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)

According to an interview Anne gave with French channel TF1 (via BFM TV) 'Brad' had lovebombed her with promises of luxury gifts and a marriage proposal.

"In fact, we're talking about Brad Pitt, I'm falling from the clouds. At first, I tell myself it's fake, but I don't really understand what's happening to me. After that, we will contact each other every day and we become friends," she said via translated text.

"There are so few men who write you this kind of thing. I liked the man I was talking to. He knew how to talk to women, it was always very well done."

Anne also explained that she'd been going through a difficult time following the divorce of her husband but became suspicious after spotting the actor out with his new girlfriend Ines de Ramon.

It's understood that she is now receiving inpatient treatment for severe depression while an investigation into the fraud case is reportedly underway. TF1 has since removed the interview from their channel following the response online.

LADbible Group has previously contacted Brad Pitt's representatives for comment.