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Brazilian Influencer's Phone Stolen in Dashcam-Caught Robbery; Thieves Also Drain Bank Account

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 31, 2026 Published 3h ago

Dashcam Captures Split-Second Robbery in São Paulo

A Brazilian content creator is speaking out after a brazen robbery in São Paulo left her traumatised—and her bank account lighter. Tabata Lenk was sitting in traffic on Avenida Tancredo Neves when two men on a motorbike pulled up beside her car. Dashcam footage shows one of the men jump off the back of the bike, run to the driver's side, and smash the window before snatching her phone from a dashboard holder. The entire incident unfolded in a matter of seconds, leaving Lenk visibly shaken and in tears.

In a video shared on Instagram, Lenk described the ordeal, saying she could not bring herself to watch the footage. "I honestly didn't even want to post it, I can't even bring myself to watch the video. It makes me sick to my stomach – but please help me share this and find this scum," she wrote.

Thieves Access Bank Account Despite Security Measures

What made the robbery even more disturbing, according to Lenk, was what happened afterward. She said the thieves managed to transfer money from her bank account even though they did not have her password, her facial recognition data, or her bank transfer PIN. "I don't know how they managed it!" she wrote, questioning how the criminals could bypass the security credentials she believed were required.

Lenk said she has since filed a police report, blocked the stolen phone, and disputed the transaction with her bank. She also expressed frustration with the authorities and urged people to circulate the video in hopes of identifying the perpetrators.

Phone Theft Statistics in São Paulo

The robbery comes amid alarming statistics on phone theft in Brazil's largest city. According to the 2025 annual report by the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety think-tank, approximately 980,000 phones were stolen in São Paulo in 2022—that is one phone stolen every minute. The number dropped slightly to around 850,000 in 2024, but fear of armed robberies and discreet pocketing of mobile phones remains high.

Broader Context of Violent Crime

The incident has renewed conversations about street crime and digital banking security. Several people commenting on Lenk's video focused not just on the stolen phone or money, but on how frightening it was to watch her immediate reaction after the window was smashed.

In a separate high-profile case last year, Brazilian fitness icon Gracyanne Barbosa was violently carjacked at gunpoint by a gang who stole her luxury SUV in Rio de Janeiro. Barbosa, 42, was returning from a samba rehearsal with her older sister, Barbara Jacobina, when three armed men targeted them as they stopped to buy medicine. Barbosa said a gunman pointed a weapon at her head, pulled her hair, and threw her to the ground, injuring her knee. Her sister was unharmed. Motorcycle couriers reportedly came to the sisters' aid before they left in a ride-hailing car to report the crime.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

India Today

Framing: Headline emphasizes the shocking car window smash and phone snatch, hinting at an additional alarming development.

as of Aug 31, 2026, 8:19 AM UTC

Facts Included:

A Brazilian content creator was left traumatised after a thief smashed her car window and stole her phone mounted on the dashboard.
Then came an alarming bank transfer.
Tabata Lenk was driving along Avenida Tancredo Neves in Brazil when the attack happened.
In a video shared on Instagram, Lenk’s dashboard camera captured the whole robbery.
The video showed two men approaching her car and smashing the window.
Before she had much time to react, he reached inside, grabbed the phone and ran away.
The entire incident unfolded in a matter of seconds.
Shaken and visibly distressed, Lenk called out for help as people nearby moved towards her car.
For a few moments, she appeared stunned by what had happened.
Then, as the shock began to sink in, she broke down in tears.
But what followed made the incident even more disturbing.
Lenk said the thieves somehow managed to transfer money from her account despite, she said, not knowing her password or having access to her facial recognition.
She also said they did not have her bank transfer PIN.
In the Instagram post, she said she had already filed a police complaint, blocked the stolen phone and disputed the transaction with her bank.
Yet she was unable to understand how the transfer had gone through.
Watch the shocking video here: “I don't know how they managed it!”
she wrote, questioning how the thieves could access her account without the security credentials she believed were required.
She also expressed frustration with the authorities and urged people to circulate the video.
The incident has initiated a conversation around street crime, digital banking security and the trauma victims experience after such attacks.
Several people commenting on the video focused not just on the stolen phone or money, but on how frightening it was to watch Tabata Lenk's immediate reaction after the window was smashed.
Phone snatching from motorists is a known form of street robbery in Brazil, particularly in congested traffic, where victims have little room to move or pursue attackers.
Criminals generally target vehicles, smash windows and escape with phones or other valuables within seconds.

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The Sun

Framing: Emphasizes the shocking, violent nature of the robbery with the word 'Horrifying' and the split-second execution.

as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC

Facts Included:

TikToker Tabata Lenk was sat in traffic in São Paulo in Brazil when two men pulled up on a motorbike beside her.
Shocking footage caught on Tabata’s dashcam shows one of the men jump from the back of the bike, run to the car and smash the side window.
He lunges into the vehicle and snatches the phone from a holder just inches from the petrified young woman.
After the violent theft, cash was withdrawn from her bank account.
The victim has since filed a police report and blocked the account.
Tabata posted footage of the robbery on Avenida Tancredo Neves on social media.
She wrote: “I honestly didn’t even want to post it, I can’t even bring myself to watch the video. It makes me sick to my stomach – but please help me share this and find this scum.”
She said: “They didn’t have my password, didn’t have my facial recognition data (which every bank requires for access), and certainly didn’t have my bank transfer PIN… I have no idea how they managed it!”
Around 980,000 phones were stolen from São Paulo – Brazil‘s largest city – in 2022.
That equates to one phone stolen every minute, according to the 2025 annual report by the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety think-tank.
This dropped slightly to some 850,000 phone snatches in 2024, but fear of armed robberies and discreet pocketing of mobile phones remains high.
Last year Brazilian fitness icon turned pornstar Gracyanne Barbosa was violently carjacked at gunpoint by a gang who stole her luxury SUV in Rio de Janeiro.
Shocking footage showed the 42-year-old sitting on the pavement visibly shaken moments after being dragged out of her £100,000 Land Rover Defender by her hair.
Gracyanne and her older sister, Barbara Jacobina, were returning from a samba rehearsal when three armed men targeted them as they stopped to buy medicine.
Barbosa, who was sitting in the backseat, said a gunman pointed a weapon at her head, pulled her hair, and threw her to the ground, injuring her knee.
Her sister was fortunately unharmed.
Nearby motorcycle couriers reportedly came to the sisters’ aid before they left the scene in a ride-hailing car to report the crime.

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What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimA thief smashed Brazilian content creator Tabata Lenk's car window and stole her phone mounted on the dashboard.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via India Today as of Aug 31, 2026, 8:19 AM UTC, The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimTabata Lenk was driving along Avenida Tancredo Neves in Brazil when the attack happened.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via India Today as of Aug 31, 2026, 8:19 AM UTC, The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimLenk's dashboard camera captured the whole robbery, showing two men approaching her car and smashing the window.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via India Today as of Aug 31, 2026, 8:19 AM UTC, The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimThe entire incident unfolded in a matter of seconds.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via India Today as of Aug 31, 2026, 8:19 AM UTC, The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimAfter the theft, Lenk appeared shaken and visibly distressed, called out for help, and broke down in tears.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via India Today as of Aug 31, 2026, 8:19 AM UTC, The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimLenk said the thieves managed to transfer money from her bank account despite not knowing her password, not having access to her facial recognition, and not having her bank transfer PIN.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via India Today as of Aug 31, 2026, 8:19 AM UTC, The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimLenk filed a police complaint, blocked the stolen phone, and disputed the transaction with her bank.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via India Today as of Aug 31, 2026, 8:19 AM UTC, The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimLenk expressed frustration with the authorities and urged people to circulate the video.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via India Today as of Aug 31, 2026, 8:19 AM UTC
ClaimAround 980,000 phones were stolen from São Paulo in 2022.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusContested via The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimAround 850,000 phones were stolen from São Paulo in 2024.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusContested via The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimThe 2025 annual report by the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety stated that one phone is stolen every minute in São Paulo.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimBrazilian fitness icon turned pornstar Gracyanne Barbosa was violently carjacked at gunpoint by a gang who stole her luxury SUV in Rio de Janeiro last year.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimGracyanne Barbosa is 42 years old and her stolen SUV was a £100,000 Land Rover Defender.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimGracyanne Barbosa and her older sister Barbara Jacobina were returning from a samba rehearsal when three armed men targeted them as they stopped to buy medicine.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimBarbosa said a gunman pointed a weapon at her head, pulled her hair, and threw her to the ground, injuring her knee.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimBarbosa's sister was unharmed in the carjacking.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC
ClaimMotorcycle couriers reportedly came to the sisters' aid after the carjacking before they left in a ride-hailing car to report the crime.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Sun as of Aug 31, 2026, 12:16 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: India Today, The Sun 17 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-31