The tragedy of a man who traveled 1,930 km after believing a beautiful woman who said, “Come live with me on my farm”

[Financial News] A story has emerged of a Brazilian man in his 40s who sold all his possessions and traveled more than 1,900 km to live with a woman he had met online, only to learn later that she was a virtual character created with artificial intelligence (AI).
According to the U.S. newspaper The New York Post on the 17th (local time), Edimar Rocha Martins, 49, a bricklayer who lives in Imperatriz, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Maranhão, sold all his belongings on the 9th of this month to buy a bus ticket. He headed to Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, about 1,200 miles (approximately 1,930 km) away, and arrived there on the 11th after traveling by bus for more than 36 hours.
The person Martins intended to meet was a woman active on social media under the name “Jessica Oliveira,” also known as “Jessica Fazendeira” (“Jessica the Farm Owner”). The woman has more than 300,000 followers on TikTok, and according to The New York Post, Martins reportedly first came across the account in 2020.
With a rural farm as a backdrop, the woman said she was looking for a companion and promised a home and financial support to a man who would live with her. In a video that has since been deleted, she reportedly said, “I want to support you. I want you to come to my farm and live without working for the rest of your life.”
After arriving in Belo Horizonte, Martins did not know the woman’s exact address, so he showed her photo to people on the street and asked if they knew where she was. He eventually went to the local radio station Rádio Itatiaia, where he learned that the face and voice in the video had both been generated by AI. Martins said, “When I went to the station, they said it was fake news and that no such woman existed.”
Martins revealed that he had suffered from loneliness since his mother passed away. “Loneliness only brings sadness, discouragement and depression. Like many people seeking a relationship, I came for one too,” he said, adding, “The promise that we would live together on a farm was decisive.”
With no money for the trip home, he asked for help from the migrant support service run by the Belo Horizonte city government. The city provided meals, accommodation and a bus ticket home. He set off on the 13th, but fell ill along the way and received treatment at an emergency clinic. After traveling for more than 50 hours, he arrived in Imperatriz on the night of the 15th and is reportedly now staying at his older sister’s home.
The account operator later posted a video acknowledging that the character was created with AI. The operator said the account was created to attract attention and promote products for sale online, and claimed never to have contacted Martins personally or invited him. According to the British newspaper The Sun, three men, including Martins, are believed to have traveled to Belo Horizonte in the past six months to meet AI-generated women.
Minas Gerais Civil Police explained that creating a virtual character is not a crime in itself, but that using AI to obtain a benefit through fraud could be a crime. They said, however, that no reports related to this case had been filed.
[email protected] Kim Hee-seon Reporter