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Online scammers are targeting those who want to watch the funeral of teenager Jay Slater, a charity working with his family says.
The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, in Lancashire, is believed to have fallen to his death after getting lost in a mountainous area of Tenerife on 17 June.
His disappearance prompted a major search operation and intense publicity until the Spanish Guardia Civil found his body in a ravine on 15 July.
Mr Slater’s funeral is due to take place on Saturday, but a number of social media accounts have reportedly offered access to a fake live stream of the service in exchange for likes, follows and even money.
Reuters
LBT Global, a charity which supports the families of British nationals who go missing overseas, said attempting to get the accounts removed was “endless work”.
Matthew Searle MBE, chief executive of LBT Global, said some scam accounts were asking for “donations” in exchange for a link to a live feed.
“We are inundated with reports of these scams, and as fast as we can get the platforms to remove them, more appear,” he added.
“To be completely clear – there is no live stream of Jay’s funeral, and anyone claiming to offer one is a scam.”
Mr Searle, who supported Mr Slater’s family in dealing with the Spanish authorities, urged anyone spotting any scam pages to report it to the relevant social media platform.
He added: “It is so typical of the vile trolling this family have received for them to target something so special as a funeral.”
Mr Searle said that the only donation page linked to the funeral was on the LBT Global website.
Mr Slater had been on his first holiday abroad without parents to attend the NRG music festival when he died.
His friends reported he got into a car in the early hours of 17 June with two men he met during the festival.
They reportedly drove him from the tourist hotspot of Playa de las Americas to their Airbnb in Masca, a tiny village in the Rural de Teno national park.
Both men were spoken to by Spanish police but ruled “irrelevant” to the investigation into his disappearance.
Mr Slater left the Airbnb on foot at 08:00 BST and walked for about half an hour before calling his friend, Lucy Law, to say he was lost, thirsty and had 1% battery on his phone.
He was never heard from again.
A post-mortem examination in Spain revealed his body suffered multiple injuries consistent with a fall from height onto rocky ground.
Mr Slater’s funeral will be held at Accrington Crematorium Chapel on Saturday at 10:30 BST.
