Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Slide 'N' Fly Facebook events are likely to be a scam, security expert warns

An expert has warned could be being used for a data mining scam

Caroline Mortimer
Thursday 13 August 2015 10:58 BST
Comments
There are 50 identical events across the country on 29th August
There are 50 identical events across the country on 29th August (Facebook)

Thousands of UK Facebook users have been warned against signing up to fake water slide events.

Around 50 event pages have been set up across the country, for “Slide 'N' Fly” events and asking for people to sign for the chance to rise a giant outside slide during the August bank holiday.

Over 6,500 people have clicked “going” to the London event and more than 2,300 have signed up for an identical event in Kingston upon Thames despite warnings in the comments that it is a data scam.

The event promises “the ride of your life” but does not give a time or place the supposed free event is taking place.

Josh Fraser, a digital security expert, told Scottish TV channel STV that depending on a Facebook user’s security settings, anyone who signed up to this could be “giving people access to their email addresses which can be added to spamming lists.”

He explained: "At first glance the Slide 'N' Fly pages look fairly realistic but if you look into it a bit more it starts to become problematic, and certain bits and pieces stand out.

"There’s no real information and [all the pages] use the same message and the same picture. They promise free admission to something that has no location, and say that you should make sure to share and invite friends, which to me suggests it is not legitimate.”

Both Bristol and Manchester Councils, where events are due to take place, say that their event permission teams have not received any notification about these events taking place, according to the Mail Online.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in