"Today's 'Mirtilo' yielded a lot!" displays Camila, a fictional name, on her profile on X (Twitter). In four photos, she shows everything she shoplifted in a day: clothes, perfumes, soaps, nail polish, and makeup items, totaling R$ 1,242.60. Next to her name on the profile, with a photo of a South Korean celebrity, she uses a blueberry emoji. The little blue fruit is the code adopted by the self-proclaimed secret community named "clepto" to gather on the social network.
Through emojis like the blueberry, the mouse, or the basket, group members flaunt their illegal acquisitions from an afternoon at the mall or a visit to stores like Americanas. In Brazil, Article 155 of the Penal Code defines theft as "taking, for oneself or for another, movable property belonging to another." Those who steal can face imprisonment from one to four years and a fine. But it's not only in Brazil that the practice has been expanding among young people. The clepto community is international and mainly gathers girls, mostly teenagers or young adults.
Using fake profiles, they exchange tips on how to evade security guards, find blind spots of cameras, dismantle alarms, sew false bottoms in bags and coats, and even how to deal with authorities if caught red-handed. The 'mirtilo' community has ethics, aesthetics, and etiquette.
Small businesses, for example, should be spared. "Shoplifting in small stores, corner shops, and thrift stores is bad character. Every sale is an achievement for them," says a young woman in a post in the community. As for aesthetics, it involves stealing highly glittery make-up, designer perfumes, lacy lingerie, clothes with bows and frills in the otaku style of Japanese pop culture, plush teddy bears, stationery items, imported sweets, all very pink and lilac —if it's Hello Kitty, even better.