Family of Brit who died after social gathering boat soar focused by vile funeral scammers
The grieving family of a young man who died while on holiday have been targeted by cruel funeral scammers.
Joop Sparks from Galashiels, Scotland, disappeared after jumping from a party boat on the Vltava River in Prague on Sunday, April 27. His body was retrieved from the water following a week-long search.
Within hours of his family announcing the tragic news on Facebook, “despicable” crooks set up three fake pages advertising his memorial service, Daily Record reports.
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Stolen pictures of the 29-year-old were used to convince friends and family to part with cash for access to the live-stream, with links asking for bank details.
(Image: Daily Record)
His sister Jodie Wilson told the Record: “It’s absolutely despicable that these people target families who are grieving.
“We have enough going on without worrying that our loved ones are being scammed.
“The sickening part was how quickly these pages were set up. We only found out that Joop’s body had been found on Monday morning.
“We were at the embassy when we got notifications about the fake pages being set up within hours. We are trying to deal with a horrific situation and then this happened.
(Image: Daily Record)
“It’s like they’ve been sitting there waiting for the news of Joop’s death. They’re just the lowest of the low.”
Unfortunately, one family friend had already given the scammers their payment details before Jodie was able to warn them. They have since reported the fraud to their bank.
Jodie continued: “They appear to have specifically targeted people who have commented on or responded to our posts over the last couple of weeks.
“The pages have been reported by myself and countless others, but two still remain up online.”
(Image: Family Handout)
Jodie’s ordeal comes amidst a growing surge in fraudsters preying on mourners in an attempt to scam them for money.
Awdri Doyle from A & A Doyle Funeral Directors, who are arranging Joop’s service, told the Record that funeral scammers were a huge concern across the industry.
“It’s a despicable thing to do to a family and unfortunately Joop’s is not the first one this has happened to, it’s happening all the time at the moment,” she said.
“No one should ever be asked to pay to watch a funeral service so if you’re asked for this it’s 100% a scam.”
Meta, owners of Facebook, said in a statement: “We don’t allow this content on our platforms and removed the pages brought to our attention.”
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