A transvestite carrying what is thought to be a brick in a pink handbag has tried to rob a Channel Nine crew in Rio.

A security guard was "clobbered on the head" with the handbag as the transvestite made an attempt to steal the crew's TV camera on a street in Copacabana last Thursday night (Friday AEST).

"It obviously had a brick or something in it," reporter Christine Ahern told AAP from Rio on Wednesday.

"I turned around and it went crack - there was something heavy in it."

She said the crew had been in Rio for only an hour and were walking down the road to file a piece-to-camera at the Copacabana beach.

"It was only a block to where we needed to go but (our security guard) suggested we put the camera in a bag to disguise it," Ahern said.

"I thought that was overkill because it's Copacabana beach and people are everywhere but we did it anyway."

It quickly became apparent the guard's advice was sound as the group rounded a corner and walked into a group of four strong men dressed in women's clothes.

One of the men "quick as a flash" went straight for the large bag being carried by the Nine cameraman, Ahern said.

Despite the whack to the head, the guard ushered the crew to the safety of a hotel foyer before the crew made their way to the beach to file the report.

They caught a taxi back to the hotel.

Ahern said she had avoided telling her family of the attempted robbery.

"I didn't tell anyone because you don't want them to worry while you're over in Rio."

The Olympics Games in Rio begin August 5.