The family of a missing teenager have pleaded with strangers not to donate to a fake fundraiser set up by trolls.
Jay Slater flew from Lancashire to the Canary Islands for a music festival when he disappeared after he went to stay with people he met during a night out on Sunday.
During his final call to a friend at 8am local time on Monday, the 19-year-old said his phone had only one per cent battery, he was thirsty and he did not know where he was.
His last location shows the Rural de Teno Park – an area popular among hikers.
Since his disappearance, sniffer dogs and mountain rescue experts have been searching for Jay, and an official Facebook group has been set up to provide updates.
However, cruel fraudsters have jumped on the opportunity to make some money from Slater’s disappearance, and around seven fake GoFundMe pages have been set up in his name.
The family of the apprentice bricklayer have since begged kind strangers not to donate to the bogus pages.
His mother, Debbie Duncan, has revealed that she has received prank phone calls from the trolls who have claimed to have kidnapped her son.
She said: “Some of the phone calls I’ve been getting have been horrible. I just don’t know why people would want to do things like this.”
More to follow…
Source Agencies
