High-tech buffalo thieves in Sabah are using cellphone messaging to spread rumours that headhunters are on the prowl, a report said today.

The thieves hope the SMS (short message service) messages will revive fears of an ancient and gruesome Borneo tradition of collecting the heads of dead enemies as trophies, thus keeping villagers from venturing out of their houses at night, a police spokesman told The Star.

The rustlers would then be able to steal herds of water-buffalo at their leisure.

The headhunter rumours were "nonsense and baseless", said Deputy Superintendent Edward Koromol, adding that the district Criminal Investigation Department had been tasked with catching the culprits. AFP