Within 24 hours of the footage first airing on Channel Nine, T-shirts emblazoned with "chk chk boom", the phrase which Ms Werbeloff used to describe the gunshot, were being sold on a US website. There were also drink bottles with the slogan and a rap-music remix of her video. But Ms Werbeloff has been forced to admit her "eyewitness" account was bogus.

As she prepared to tell all on Nine's A Current Affair, detectives told The Sun-Herald last night Ms Werbeloff's account of the shooting of Justin Kallu, 27, the so-called "skinny wog", was made up. "We have interviewed her and she has not witnessed the shooting," said acting Kings Cross Police crime manager, Detective Inspector Matt McQueen. "She has admitted to making it all up and has not witnessed the shooting." After the phenomenon went global, Ms Werbeloff joined forces with a publicist, who would not respond to questions from The Sun-Herald yesterday.

But not everyone has jumped on the bandwagon, with more than 750 people signing up to a hate site on Facebook. Inspector McQueen would not say what motivated Ms Werbeloff to go on camera and claim to be a witness.

Police said they have ruled out laying any public mischief charges against her. Media blogs last week reported that Ms Werbeloff had been working for The Projects, the management agency co-owned by her PR agent, Adam Abrams. Mr Abrams denied Ms Werbeloff worked for the agency, but said she had done an exclusive deal with Nine and would not be speaking to other media. "Clare won't be commenting [until] Monday night on A Current Affair as she wants to tell the story once in full," he said.

A source said Ms Werbeloff's older sister had been "embarrassed" by her sibling's new-found fame, and that Clare was fearful of retribution from the gang members who she mocked.