Hoax! Little boy needs 100 Facebook shares for a heart transplant

A new hoax is spreading between Facebook users, in the mistaken belief that sharing a picture of a sick boy in intensive care will grant him a heart transplant.

Heart transplant facebook hoax

If this little boy gets 100 shares he can get his heart transplant for free

Of course, the message is nonsense – and simply clogs up Facebook users’ walls and newsfeeds. Think about it – is it really likely that a child will be given a heart transplant simply because enough people like a photograph on Facebook?

Another version of the hoax reads as follows:

I NEED AT LEAST 10000 SHARES.

Plz share….. Heart surgery free of cost for children (0-10 Yrs) Ph : 080-28411500 It might save some1’s life…! Sharing takes a second… in bangalore INDIA

More than likes, sharing can help !

According to the Urban Legends blog on About.com, the telephone number belongs to the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Whitefield in Bangalore, India. The clinic gives free medical assistance, and does not base surgery upon anything related to Facebook.

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If a friend of yours shares a message with you like this on Facebook, remind them about the importance of not spreading chain letters and suggest that they inform all of their friends that they were mistaken (maybe they could link to this article if anybody needs convincing?).


Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and is the co-host of the popular "The AI Fix" and "Smashing Security" podcasts. Follow him on Bluesky and Mastodon, or drop him an email.

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