Fact Check: Are people in Italy really throwing money on the streets?

Claim: Italians throwing their money on the streets

Rating: False

What is the rumour about?

The rumour is about Italians throwing their money on the streets stating that it is useless for them now. 

Who is spreading the rumour?

• Many social media users, especially on Twitter and Facebook, were seen sharing these images stating that rich Italians are throwing away their money. People are stating that money can't buy them health and thus the money is of no use for them right now. 
• Few foreign journalists even shared the tweet and this might have been instrumental in making others believe the rumour to be true. 
• Italy's death toll has crossed 12,000, which is the maximum number of deaths recorded due to the virus outbreak anywhere in the world so far. 

Image courtesy: Twitter

Image courtesy: Twitter

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Google Trends analysis

Take a look at the massive number of people who searched for the rumour in India after it was spread like wildfire all over the country. Yesterday, on March 31, the maximum number of people had searched for the same rumour. 

Image courtesy: Google Trends

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Republic World did a fact check on Italians throwing their money rumour 

• According to the fact check performed by the Republic World team, the rumour is False.
• The actual image is from Venezuelan streets where the old Bolivar currency was thrown out on the streets. 
• Reportedly, the image is from Venezuela, where the former form of currency was thrown out on the streets after a bank was looted.
• Many Venezuelan journalists and social media users had shared these images after the looting incident. 
• The viral photograph was apparently taken on March 11, 2019. The news outlets of Venezuela had mentioned during that time that the people who looted the bank had thrown out the old money on the streets while some were even lit on fire.
• After performing a reverse image search, the images seem to be from a Facebook post from March 2019. The image had been used in many other media outlets as well. 

Image courtesy: Facebook

• The currency that one can see in the image is the old currency of Venezuela known as the Bolívar Fuerte. One can compare the currency on the streets with the old Bolivar Fuerte images from Wikipedia. 

Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Image courtesy: Facebook

• The old currency known as Bolivar Fuerte was replaced by the new currency called the Bolivar Soberano, in August 2018. The old Bolívar Fuerte currency was withdrawn on December 5, 2018, after which the old currency had no value.

Image courtesy: Facebook

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