MANILA -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday urged the public to refrain from spreading a "chain message" hoax on social media claiming that members of terror group ISIS are out to infect people with the HIV virus.
PNP spokesman Chief Supt. John Bulalacao said the prank is probably meant to sow fear with the undiscerning members of the general public.
"The PNP has previously declared as hoax this post because this is a mere chain text. Although poorly scripted, we ask the public not to share said post as this may create unnecessary fear among gullible individuals," Bulalacao said in an interview with reporters.
In one version of the message also spread through text messages, ISIS terrorists would allegedly poke infected needles to unsuspecting victims by pretending to be government doctors checking the victim's blood sugar.
Another version said the ISIS members are roving in medical centers and are offering free vaccines that purportedly contain AIDS virus.
"Paki inform mo mga friends nyo na my nag iikot daw kunyari sa medical center cla kunyari anti tetanus o anupaman wag daw magpabakuna kc mdami daw nagkakalat member ng muslim isis group iinject daw aids virus pampatay sa mga tao para mkaganti sa gobyerno wag kamo cla mag entertain ng mga ganon at dlikado post u na now," the viral message read.
A cursory check on Facebook showed variations of the scare message has been around in other countries since March. (PNA)
