Creator of AI 'Woman' Calls Brazilian Man's 1,200-Mile Love Quest a 'Lie' After He Sold Everything for Her

The anonymous creator of an AI-generated TikTok persona has denied ever speaking to a Brazilian bricklayer who crossed the country by bus to find her.

Edimar Rocha Martins, 49, travelled about 2,100km (1,300 miles) from Imperatriz, in Maranhão, to Belo Horizonte after becoming convinced that a widow on a farm wanted him to move in with her.

The woman he believed he would meet, 'Jéssica Oliveira', was an AI-generated character that its creator says was made to sell products online. Her creator has called Martins's account of their conversations 'a lie', while Martins says he has no regrets.

A Widow, a Farm and a Promise

The account, @jessicafazendeira, had more than 300,000 followers on TikTok. Its videos showed a woman who said she had been widowed and wanted a partner to share her farm, UOL reported.

'Sou viúva há quatro anos,' the character says in one video ('I have been a widow for four years'). 'Eu quero que você venha pra cá pra viver vida de rei. Olha o tamanho dessa fazenda que vai ser sua' ('I want you to come here to live like a king. Look at the size of this farm that will be yours'). In another, she says: 'Eu quero te bancar. Quero que você pare de trabalhar' ('I want to support you. I want you to stop working').

The videos also promoted products sold through Mercado Livre, including dresses and supplements, according to UOL.

Martins, a bricklayer on leave from work through Brazil's social security agency, the INSS, said he had talked to 'Jéssica' through the Kwai and Facebook apps. He told Rádio Itatiaia that she had invited him to live with her.

'Ela falou assim: "Não, você vai morar mais eu aqui na fazenda",' he said ('She said: "No, you're going to live with me here on the farm"'). 'Então eu vou' ('So I'm going').

'Vendi Minhas Coisas Todas'

Martins decided on Friday 9 October 2026 to sell his belongings to pay for the trip, Imirante reported. 'Vendi minhas coisas todas, acabei com tudo' ('I sold all my things. I got rid of everything'), he said.

He made the journey of more than 2,000km by bus, arriving in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, on Sunday 11 October, Gazeta SP reported. The profile never asked him for money, according to the paper.

Loneliness drove the decision, he said. 'Às vezes, uma solidão dentro de casa acaba trazendo muito transtorno,' he told reporters ('Sometimes loneliness at home ends up causing a lot of trouble'). 'Por isso que eu vim atrás dela' ('That's why I came after her').

There was no farm and no widow waiting. Martins said he learned the truth from a radio station in the city. 'Fui na rádio lá, e eles disseram não isso é fake news, essa mulher não existe,' he said ('I went to the radio there, and they said no, this is fake news, this woman doesn't exist').

With his money gone, he turned to the city for help. Belo Horizonte's Migrant Reception Unit gave him a shower, food and advice on the risks of social media, and the city issued him a bus ticket to Augustinópolis, in Tocantins, where he was born. He left on Tuesday 13 October.

'Nunca Conversei Com Ninguém'

The creator of the profile, who has not been identified, told UOL that the character was built to generate sales. 'Sou feita de inteligência artificial. Nunca conversei com ninguém nesse perfil. O intuito foi ganhar engajamento para vendas,' a statement on the account said ('I am made of artificial intelligence. I've never spoken to anyone through this profile. The aim was to gain engagement for sales'), UOL reported.

The creator rejected Martins's account directly. 'Nunca falei diretamente com ninguém, e muito menos levei alguém a Belo Horizonte,' the creator said ('I never spoke directly to anyone, let alone brought anyone to Belo Horizonte'). 'Sobre o rapaz falou que trocou mensagem comigo, é mentira' ('As for the man who said he exchanged messages with me, that's a lie').

In a later interview with G1, the creator said the character had been created in 2025 to attract an audience before advertising products, and suggested Martins had mistaken a video for a personal invitation, Correio reported.

'Eu acho que ele viu algum vídeo e achou que o vídeo estava falando para ele ir, porém não houve conversa' ('I think he saw a video and thought it was telling him to go, but there was no conversation'), the creator said.

The creator said they were now afraid because of the attention, and did not know whether others had used the videos to contact Martins on other platforms. 'Esses vídeos nunca foram feitos para causar esse tipo de transtorno na vida de ninguém' ('These videos were never made to cause this kind of trouble in anyone's life'). The TikTok account went offline on Wednesday 14 October.

Minas Gerais Civil Police told Correio there was no police report on the case. Creating characters with AI is not a crime in itself, the force said, although using the technology to deceive people for unlawful gain could lead to liability. Without examining the facts, it could not say whether any crime had occurred.

Martins returned to Imperatriz on Thursday 15 October and is staying with relatives. In a video posted after his return, he said he did not regret the trip and planned to go back to Belo Horizonte to look for another partner, Imirante reported.

'Eu não encontrei ela, mas eu vou encontrar outra e vai ser no mesmo lugar onde eu fui e eu vou de novo,' he said ('I didn't find her, but I'll find another, and it will be in the same place I went, and I'll go again'). 'Ninguém pode baixar a cabeça não' ('Nobody should hang their head').

He did not say when he plans to make the trip again, according to Imirante.