Food delivery workers continue to provide service despite the community quarantine declared by the Philippine government during the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown in Manila on March 20, 2020. (AFP / Maria Tan)

Hoax report circulates online in the Philippines that delivery driver was ‘tricked into delivering severed head’

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on December 22, 2020 at 06:00
  • 2 min read
  • By AFP Philippines

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A purported news report which claims that a delivery driver was tricked into delivering a severed head has been shared on multiple blog pages that mimic the website of a Philippine news organisation. The claim is false: the screenshot in the purported report has been doctored from an unrelated report about delivery drivers being plagued by fake bookings. The blogs that shared the doctored image are all imposter sites.

The screenshot was shared in this blog post on December 2, 2020. 

It appears to show a screenshot of a television report by Philippine media organisation GMA News. The text overlay states: "FAKE BOOKINGS: DELIVERY DRIVER DID NOT EXPECT TO BE DELIVERING SEVERED HEAD! POLICE ON THE HUNT FOR SENDER!”

The blog’s header text reads in part: “GMA News TV Blog”

A screenshot of the misleading post, taken on December 21, 2020

Identical screenshots were also shared alongside a similar claim in separate blog posts here, here, here and here. 

The claim is false.

A reverse image search on Google, followed by keyword searches, found the screenshot in the posts corresponds to the 22-second mark of this GMA News report on October 20, 2020. 

The text overlay in the original GMA News report was digitally altered to include the reference to the severed head. It originally states: "FAKE BOOKINGS: SOME FOOD DELIVERY DRIVERS VICTIMISED BY FAKE BOOKINGS OF PEOPLE WHO COULD NOT BE FOUND".

Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored photo in the misleading posts (L) and the original GMA News report (R):

Screenshot comparison

In response to the misleading posts, GMA News editor-in-chief Jaemark Tordecilla said the blogs that shared the doctored photos are not connected to the news organisation. 

“This is an imposter site,” he said in a text message to AFP on December 21, 2020. “Our official website is at www.gmanetwork.com”.

The misleading claim was also debunked here by Philippine news organisation Vera Files.

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