According to reports, the schoolboy was riding his bicycle through Kerrykeel village on the Fanad peninsula on the north coast of Donegal at around 9pm when a man stopped his van, possibly a Renault Kangoo, at the roadside and asked him to get into it.
The child, who ran from the man and told his parents, who contacted the Gardaí in Milford, described the man as having a local accent and said he was wearing a hooded top.
The community of Fanad, which is home to less than 700 people, is on high alert and Supt David Kelly said the incident is being treated 'very seriously'.
"We would ask parents to advise children not to speak to anyone they don't know and not to take lifts from anyone they don't know," he said.
Officers searched the area for the van on Sunday night but no trace of it has been found.
Anyone who noticed anybody acting suspiciously in a white van in the Kerrykeel area over the weekend is asked to contact Milford Gardai.
