Police warning after scammers offer fake links to stream Southport stabbing victim’s funeral

Scammers offered fake links to a live stream of the funeral of one of the Southport stabbing victims, police have warned.

Merseyside Police said officers from its cyber unit were made aware of a number of Facebook accounts providing a fake link, and link to a donations page, for a live stream of the funeral of six-year-old Bebe King, which was held on Saturday.

Bebe, Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, suffered fatal injuries in the attack at the Taylor Swift -themed dance class on July 29.

The force issued advice on avoiding similar scams ahead of Elsie’s funeral, due to be held on Friday.

Detective inspector Steve Frame said: “We are aware of social media accounts offering people the chance to view live streams of funerals in exchange for donations.

“To take advantage of such a tragic incident is appalling and we want to give people advice on how to avoid being scammed.

“Many frauds start by tricking people into entering their details into an apparently legitimate site. Take care when accessing websites, particularly those promoted by social media accounts – they may not be what they appear to be.

“Never automatically click on a link in an unexpected email, text or social media post.

“Remember, email addresses and phone numbers can be spoofed, so don’t use those as a means to verify that a message or call is authentic.

“The best way to get in touch with a company is to use a known email or phone number, such as the one on the back of your bank card.”

The service for Elsie, which her family are referring to as Elsie’s Special Day, will be held in Birkdale, near Southport, on Friday.

On Wednesday a web developer was facing a criminal charge over claims he helped spread misinformation about the accused Southport attacker.

Farhan Asif, 32, has been charged with cyber terrorism after false claims quickly spread online that the suspect was a Muslim immigrant to the UK, when in fact he was born in Wales and comes from a Christian family.

Pakistani police announced the charge on Wednesday, and said that Asif claimed he was not the original source of the false information, but reposted it from social media.

After three little girls were murdered at a holiday club in Southport on July 29, false rumours including a fake name for the suspect spread on X, formerly Twitter, appearing to originate from an apparent news website called Channel3 Now.

The site’s editor-in-chief posted an apology July 31 for “the misleading information published in a recent article on our website, Channel3 Now. We deeply regret any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.”

The false details spread quickly online in the UK, with riots breaking out in various locations.