Scammers target funeral of Jay Slater in more 'vile trolling' of family
Scammers have targeted the funeral of Jay Slater offering access to an apparent livestream of the funeral, in what is being described as more 'vile trolling'.
The 19-year-old was reported missing on the morning of 17 June while trying to walk back to his holiday accommodation in Tenerife, and his body was found over a month later.
His funeral, on 10 August, will be a "celebration" of his life, his family say.
They have asked anyone attending to wear something blue in memory of the bricklayer form Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire.
But, after news of his funeral was announced, online accounts began promising to provide live stream access to the service in return for likes, follows and even donations.
LBT Global, the charity assisting the family, says it has had some of the accounts removed but more continue to appear.
“We are inundated with reports of these scams, and as fast as we can get the platforms to remove them, more appear," Matthew Searle, the charity's Chief Executive, said.
"To be completely clear - there is no live stream of Jay’s funeral, and anyone claiming to offer one is a scam.
"As much as being hurtful and deeply unrespectful (sic), this is taking vital donations away from a small charity."
He said there was only one donation page linked to the funeral, or through following a link on the charity's website.
"We ask that anyone seeing one of these pages reports it to the platform," Mr Searle added. "Please don’t follow them or send them money.
"It is so typical of the vile trolling this family have received for them to target something so special as a funeral.”
The body of the teenager was returned to the UK at the beginning of August, and a post-mortem examination found he died of traumatic head injuries, consistent with a fall from height.
His death would have been instantaneous.
The “celebration of life service” is to take place at Accrington Cemetery Chapel prior to his burial.
Mr Slater attended the NRG music festival with two friends before his disappearance, and his last known location was the Rural de Teno Park in the north of the Canary Island, which was about an 11-hour walk from his accommodation.
He had travelled to an Airbnb in Masca after a night out but the two men said to have rented the property were later ruled “not relevant” to the case.
The Spanish Civil Guard said Mr Slater could have fallen in the steep and inaccessible area where he was discovered.
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