Heartless online scammers target Jay Slater funeral as family get ready to say final goodbye

Scammers have targeted his funeral, which is to be held this Saturday, offering access to an apparent livestream. 

Online accounts began promising to provide live stream access to the service in return for likes, follows and even donations.

Sign up for our free newsletters now LBT Global, the charity assisting the family, says it has had some of the accounts removed but more continue to appear.

Matthew Searle, the charity's Chief Executive, said: “We are inundated with reports of these scams, and as fast as we can get the platforms to remove them, more appear.

"To be completely clear - there is no live stream of Jay’s funeral, and anyone claiming to offer one is a scam. "It is so typical of the vile trolling this family have received for them to target something so special as a funeral.”

Jay had 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. His disappearance sparked a high-profile month-long search, but officials later said he died on Monday, June 17 - the day he went missing - from "trauma consistent with a fall in a rocky area".

Sign up for our free newsletters now His funeral will be held on Saturday at Accrington Cemetery Chapel at 10.30am and will be a ‘celebration of his life’. His loved ones have also asked that, instead of flowers, people could donate to LBT Global, which helped his family through their heartache.

Well-wishers attending have been asked to wear something blue in his memory.