SINGAPORE — The police on Friday (Feb 4) dismissed claims circulating online that an eight-year-old girl had been kidnapped as she visited malls here with her family.

In a Facebook post, the police said that they are aware of the posts, which claimed that the girl was kidnapped on Wednesday.

“The police would like to clarify that the claims made in the posts are false.

“The police did not receive any information of any person being kidnapped for the period stated. We also found articles of similar content involving other countries circulating online.”

Accompanying the police statement was an image of an online post, which stated that the girl was with her parents and brother when she disappeared, and that “everything was recorded by a camera”.

The girl — identified as Julie S by the “Autor” Alex Smith — was reported to be abducted at 10am that day.

The article quoted a “local policeman” who said that they are “currently asking Interpol for help” and “conducting talks with police in Singapore”.

It is not clear which nationality the “local policeman” is supposed to be.

The police in Singapore, however, said that they take a serious view of such false claims that cause public alarm.

“The police would like to advise members of the public not to participate in the spreading of unverified information and to be responsible when posting or sharing any information online,” they said.

The police statement did not indicate how widely the post had been shared.