DESPICABLE

»»Tragic Joop died after party boat leap »»Cruel funeral conmen try to cash in

agony Prague police found the body of Joop, above, in the river

The grieving family of a tourist who died after jumping from a party boat in Prague have been targeted by sick funeral scammers.

Joop Sparkes, from Galashiels, vanished after diving into the Vltava River on Sunday, April 27. His body was recovered from the river in the Czech Republic a week later following an agonising search for him. But within hours of his family announcing the tragic news on Facebook, “despicable” crooks had set up three fake pages to advertise his memorial service. Stolen pictures of the 29-year-old were used to convince friends and family to part with cash for access to the livestream, with links asking for bank details. His sister Jodie Wilson said: “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.

“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 added: “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.”

Jodie’s ordeal comes amid 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 it was a huge concern across the industry.

She explained: “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,

“No one should ever be asked to pay to watch a funeral service so if you’re asked for this it’s 100 per cent a scam.

“None of my clients had been targeted in this way until Joop’s family this week but I was aware from others that it’s been going on for a little while now.”

Police Scotland advised anyone who thinks they have been scammed to contact the National Cyber Security Centre.

It added: “If you are contacted by someone claiming to be a friend or family member through a social media site, contact them using something else, i.e. by telephone, before agreeing to give them money.”

A Meta spokeswoman said: “We don’t allow this content on our platforms and removed the pages brought to our attention.”

We have got on enough going without worrying our families are being scammed SISTER OF JODIE WILSON TRAGIC JOOP