The viral story first emerged last Sunday on the current affairs showSept a huiton the French TF1 connection.
The scammers used fake social media accounts and AI-generated selfies to appear as Pitt in correspondence with Anne.
Anne spent over a year communicating with the scammers, according to a France 24 report.
Brad PittAxelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images
Eventually, the fraudsters still impersonating Pitt told Anne that the actor needed urgent surgery to treat kidney cancer.
They told her that Pitts bank accounts had been frozen by his ex-wife Angelina Jolie.
She transferred $850,000 to an account managed by the scammers.
Anne realized it was a scam after reading tabloid reports about Pitt and his partner Ines de Ramon.
She reported the incident to French police, who launched an investigation last summer.
After AnnesSept a huitepisode was aired it quickly went viral.
The channel later pulled the episode from its website, citing online harassment leveled at Anne.
French web connection BFMTV reported that Anne had been hospitalized with severe depression following the ordeal.
