The PSNI have refuted rumours of attempted child abductions at various supermarkets throughout Northern Ireland.
According to unverified reports, missing children have been found in supermarket toilets with new haircuts in bizarre abduction attempts.
Police said the rumours which have spread around the region over the past couple of weeks are unfounded. The PSNI added they had received no reports of such incidents.
In the past week, UTV also received a growing number of emails alerting the media of the alleged threat.
One viewer said she had received several text messages on Monday morning warning her about attempted child abductions in supermarkets.
"Apparently these kids have been taken into the toilets and had haircuts and clothes changed," she wrote.
"I just wondered why are the media not warning parents if these allegations are true?" She also asked.
"I for one will not be going to any shopping centres and I am going to advise anyone I meet to do the same. The public should know", another viewer wrote.
According to one viewer the text which is currently circulating reads as followed:
"Spread the word... Three kids have been tried to be abducted, one in Forestside last week, one yesterday in Sprucefield and one in Asda in Bangor but thankfully they were found."
Similar versions of the story, which has been marked down as an urban legend, have circulated around the UK since July.
One father told online volunteer group Help Find My Child: "Someone told me about a child going missing in Tesco Bangor (in Wales)."
"I thought it was probably just some urban myth going round that they'd heard but on the weekend I have heard the same story from two separate people, the same day and same details.
"It may be that these people have just heard the same rumour but it was odd because they were not connected."
A Tesco spokeswoman said in July: "We don't know where this rumour originated but it has reached different places. It started in Derbyshire last week and there were other reports in Kent. And now it has spread to North Wales.
"If it was true, the police would have been on to it. But it's not true."
According to snopes.com, a website dedicated to urban legends, folklore, myths, rumours, and misinformation, "this type of tale has been circulating for decades, involving the kidnapping of children from family type public places, such as amusement parks and shopping centres."
© UTV News