Thrissur: "Dear all, four kidneys are available. The family of a friend who met with an accident yesterday would like to donate the kidneys to humanity. Share this message, someone could benefit from this."

If you receive such a message on your phone, before hitting the forward button, remember that you are not helping kidney patients, because it could be a scam.

The police have warned that a gang, which swindles money by widely circulating fake messages on organ donation via WhatsApp and Facebook, is behind this.

"My colleague Sudheer and his wife were declared brain dead after an accident. Their family would like to donate their B+ve and O+ve kidneys," this is the message circulating on WhatsApp. Three phone numbers have been given with the message.

As the message is about organ donation, the public, without doubting its authenticity shared it widely. Though the first number is active, nobody picks up if a call is made to it. The second and third numbers are not active. The caller ID apps will reveal that these are spam numbers.

The police have said that it is better not to share such messages, with no authenticity, to anyone. It is illegal to sell kidneys in India. Publishing ads in this regard and sharing it would all fall under the purview of the offence.