Residents warned of Island Games scammers

The opening ceremony for the Island Games was on Saturday

Residents are being asked to remain vigilant and aware that online scammers may use the Island Games to target people.

Organisers have reminded people that live streams and live tracking are available for free through the official website.

It follows earlier warnings that cyber criminals are known to prey around large sporting events.

The public are being urged not to enter their bank details into sites that claim to offer live streaming.

Games director Julia Bowditch said: "We’re reminding people to be careful online because cyber criminals are trying to target our games.

"Fraudsters can be very sophisticated at copying legitimate Facebook pages so that they look entirely plausible, so please be very wary and don’t fall foul of fake sellers.

"It’s easy to let your guard down when you think you are among friends."

She said the organisers had been in touch with social media companies and Guernsey Police.

One fake group called 'Island Games Guernsey 2023' has about 3,600 members, many of whom are island residents, organisers said.

People who are members have been asked to leave the group.

The official Facebook page, Facebook group and YouTube channel for the games are all called Guernsey2023.

Ms Bowditch added: "We have issued advice to all our member islands to make their supporters aware of these criminals.

"We have also issued advice about controls that can be added to Facebook pages that are being bombarded by scammers.

"Criteria can be added, such as not allowing comments with links and not allowing comments from people with no friends or followers.’