Water slide scam catches out Glasgow residents

Thousands of thrill-seeking Glasgow residents may have been duped by a Facebook scam asking people to sign up for a water slide event in the city centre.

Dozens of online pages advertising “Slide ‘N’ Fly” at locations all over the UK have been set up asking people to sign up for the chance to ride a giant outdoor slide.

Facebook groups like this one are thought to have been a scam to harvest email addresses

But one council claims it has not received any applications to stage the events – all on August 29 – and experts warned it could be a scam to gather personal data.

Josh Fraser, a digital security expert, said: “Depending on the information they have publicly available, the people who have signed up to it could be giving people access to their email addresses which can be added to spamming lists.”

More than 40 “events” have been created on Facebook by Slide ‘N’ Fly, at cities including Bath, Dublin, Manchester as well as Glasgow.

The pages shows an image of a steep slide which tilts upwards at the end, apparently catapulting the rider into a pool of water.

The Bristol page – which has been joined by 7,000 people – says: “Summer 2015 brings you the most exhilarating water event to ever hit Bristol!”

The event claims to boast free admission, saying “just show up and be ready for the ride of your life”, but no specific time or location details are given.

Bristol City Council said it has no knowledge of any event taking place on that day in any of the city’s public spaces or parks.

A spokesperson from the council has said they suspect the event will not be taking place.

The council spokesperson said: “We have not received any applications relating to this event and it does not have permission to go ahead on any Bristol City Council land.”

Slide ‘N’ Fly has not responded to a request for comment through its official Facebook page. The Glasgow event can be found here.