A Brazilian man, Edimar Martins, sells all his belongings and travels roughly 1,200 miles (about 1,900 km) to meet an online girlfriend he planned to marry. He has said he was motivated by loneliness after his mother’s death and believed the relationship could help him rebuild his life.
According to reports, the woman appeared as the subject of a TikTok account with a substantial following. When Martins meets her, he discovers that she is AI-generated rather than a real person. After he runs out of money, he receives help to return home, though he continues to believe in the possibility of finding love.
