12:20 PM PT -- Tequan Hines took to Instagram and confirmed that both he and Asia did, in fact, buy the ice cream. He showed off the almost empty container to his followers and stated it was all one big prank.
The couple responsible for the ire of millions of people on the internet after they licked a tub of ice cream and seemingly left it on a grocery store shelf faked it all for clout ... TMZ has learned.
A spokesperson for the Virginia State Police tells us they've determined Tequan Hines and his girlfriend, Asia, did in fact purchase the tub of ice cream after they filmed themselves licking it at a local grocery store before placing it back in a freezer.
Of course, this means Tequan only posted the video for views ... and he got just that, after it went viral earlier this week.
The clip, which was first posted to Tequan's Instagram and then deleted, shows Tequan Hines and his gf grab the Blue Bunny ice cream, take a lick and then put it back.
TMZ broke the story, cops in Virginia were made aware of the video by a ton of pissed-off people -- and opened up an investigation into the incident.
As it turns out, no crime was committed ... though we better hope the video didn't serve as some inspiration for any copycats.
Originally Published -- 10:22 AM PT