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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Crime & justice fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about crime & justice. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

6,849 published reviews in this topic

Factcrescendo Sri LankaCrime & justice

Entering reverse PIN is a protective way to face robbers at an ATM.

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerns advice shared on social media that a person being forced to withdraw money at an ATM can secretly summon help by entering their PIN backward. The review describes a December 2021 Facebook post that said a reversed PIN would make the cash emerge only partway and alert police, and notes a related WhatsApp version claimed the ATM would photograph the suspect. The review investigated whether that proposed emergency feature was actually operating in Sri Lanka or elsewhere. To check the claim, the publisher says it asked the Sri Lanka Police Media Unit whether entering a PIN in reverse would automatically send a message to the nearest station. The unit said no such security plan had been implemented and characterized the posts as false and misleading. The review also consulted Channa de Silva, chief executive of Lanka Clear, who said the described procedure does not operate in any country. He said reversing a PIN would do nothing in Sri Lanka and repeated attempts could block the ATM card. The review distinguishes the viral advice from the history of the underlying idea: US lawyer Joe Zingher had developed and patented a reverse-PIN security concept, but the review says it was not implemented in Sri Lanka or elsewhere. Its conclusion rests on the difference between a proposed system and an operating ATM feature: the existence of the concept does not mean entering a PIN backward will alert police or protect a person during a robbery.

FACTLYCrime & justice

Video of Canadians thrashing Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder accused Goldy Brar

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a video circulated as showing Canadians assaulting Goldy Brar, the man accused in the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala. FACTLY’s review identifies the person attacked in the footage as Pakistan TikTok star Hassan Goldy, not Brar, and places the incident in Dubai. The review says Hassan Goldy was falsely identified as Brar in posts sharing the video. To check the video’s identity and context, the review describes searching online with relevant keywords. It found Facebook posts identifying the assaulted person as Hassan Goldy and describing the incident as having taken place in Dubai. It also reports that local Punjabi news channels published clarifications identifying the man as Hassan Goldy and explaining that the attack footage had been misrepresented as showing Canadians assaulting Brar. The review further reports that Hassan Goldy posted videos about the incident. In one, he said close associates assaulted him over a personal dispute; in another, he said footage of that attack had been misrepresented as showing Goldy Brar and asked people not to share the posts. These accounts support the review’s distinction between the person shown in the video and the person named in the claim.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaCrime & justice

පෙට්‍රල් යැයි පවසා මුත්‍රා බෝතලයක් රුපියල් දහසකට අලෙවි කිරීමක් හේතුවෙන් පුද්ගලයෙකු අත්අඩංගුවට?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review investigated a social-media post claiming that a person had been arrested for selling a bottle of urine as petrol for Rs. 1,000. It describes an image circulating as though it came from Hiru News’s official Facebook account; versions of the post also named different supposed suspects and locations. The review says the image had been edited and that people were sharing it as genuine. (The article describes the claim in these terms: “පෙට්‍රල් යැයි පවසා මුත්‍රා බෝතලයක් රුපියල් දහසකට අලෙවි කළ පුද්ගලයෙකු මීගලෑවේචී අත්අඩංගුවට”.) To check the purported report, the reviewers say they looked for it in mainstream reporting and on News.lk’s website and official Facebook account, and contacted Hiru News staff. They report finding no mainstream report of an arrest for this alleged sale; News.lk had not published the purported story, and Hiru News staff said neither the image nor the story had appeared on the outlet’s official Facebook page and called it false. The review also quotes Police Media Spokesperson Senior Superintendent Nihal Thalduwa as saying there had been no report of such information or an arrest. Taken together, these checks contradict the post’s presentation as a genuine Hiru News report of an arrest. The article’s update mentions a separate report from Negombo: Ada Derana had reported that someone sold urine as fuel to a person stranded without fuel. The review says it intended to seek further information from Negombo Police before updating that item. That limited reference does not establish the specific claimed Rs. 1,000 sale or an arrest; the review’s account of the viral Hiru News image and its checks addresses the claim under examination.