CCTV footage of an armed robbery in Brazil has circulated in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed a Burmese resistance fighter who “saved a foreigner” from a thief in Myanmar’s commercial hub.
The video of an armed robber stealing a mobile phone and fleeing the scene before being shot by another man has gained 38,000 views after it was shared on Facebook on May 13.
“Said it happened in North Dagon. I am not sure if that’s true but they said a PDF saved a foreigner,” reads the Burmese-language caption, referring to the People’s Defence Force, which was formed after a 2021 coup that has led to four years of conflict, spurring mass displacement and poverty (archived link).
Screenshot of false Facebook post taken on May 20, 2025
A devastating earthquake that struck in March killed 3,800 people and worsened the humanitarian situation, while the junta has continued to strike civilian targets despite a purported ceasefire to help the country recover from the disaster (archived links here and here).
Similar posts claiming the video of the robbery was shot in Myanmar also emerged on Facebook.
However, a reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the video found the incident took place in Brazil.
Broadcaster CNN Brasil published an uncropped version of the video in a report on March 4 (archived link).
The report’s headline reads: “Video: student is robbed as he leaves the gym and off-duty police officer retaliates.”
Screenshot comparisons of false Facebook post (left) and CNN Brasil’s report (right)
The incident took place in Sao Paulo’s Brooklin neighbourhood, on Francisco Dias Velho Road, Brazilian local media reported (archived link).
A search of the location on Google Maps found a geotagged image of the exterior of the Junkyard Gym, which shows elements matching those seen in the CCTV footage of the robbery (archived link).
Screenshot comparisons of CNN Brasil’s report (left) and Google Maps’ photo highlighted by AFP (right)
Further keyword searches found the Junkyard Gym had uploaded additional CCTV footage of the robbery on its official Instagram account, which corresponded to Google Maps street view imagery of Francisco Del Velho Road (archived links here and here).
Screenshot comparison of the CCTV footage uploaded by the gym (left) and street view imagery from Google Maps (right)
AFP has previously debunked misinformation related to the PDF here, here and here.
