Facebook won’t donate money for boy’s life-saving surgery after he saved his sister from rapist. Because it’s a hoax

Hoaxes and chain letters never die it seems. There’s always someone spreading them unwittingly on Facebook to their family and friends, in the mistaken belief that it’s better to share a message “just in case it’s true”

Take this example, forwarded to us by Naked Security reader Phil, which claims that Facebook will donate 45 cents per share for a shot boy’s surgery.

A 14 YEAR OLD BOY WAS SHOT 6 TIMES BY HIS STEPFATHER. THIS BOY WAS PROTECTING HIS LITTLE 6 YEAR OLD SISTER WHO WAS ABOUT TO BE RAPED BY THIS POOR… EXCUSE OF A MAN. THE LITTLE GIRL DID GET HURT, THANKS TO HER BRAVE OLDER BROTHER. THEIR MOM WAS AT WORK WHEN THIS HAPPENED. NOW THIS BRAVE YOUNG LITTLE BOY IS FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE,BUT DOCTORS SAY HE WILL NOT SURVIVE UNLESS HE GETS AN OPERATION WHICH IS COSTLY AND HIS MOM CANNOT PAY. FACEBOOK COMPANIES HAVE AGREED TO DONATE 45 CENTS FOR EVERY TIME SOMEONE SHARE THIS MESSAGE SO, PLEASE CLICK SHARE SO THAT TOGETHER WE CAN HELP SAVE THIS BOUS LIFE……NSFTBC! If you had a heart you’d do it, It will only take a minute of your time!

Does it ring any bells with you? It should do if you’re a long-term reader of Naked Security as we warned of a similar bogus chain letter spreading in late 2011, telling a near-identical story…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.

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