Be careful.
Player from Belgium
“He wrote me Bangor was looking for a player in my position. It all seemed very realistic. He needed money to arrange my accommodation. I paid.”
“When I arrived at Manchester Airport, nobody picked me up and he did not answer my calls. He sent me a text message telling me that I had to wait.”
“I slept in a hostel, but returned to Belgium the next day."
"I was so angry, because it was difficult getting the money to travel to England."
"People like him take advantage of players desperate to sign a contract.”
“I got a message that I am selected to become a West Ham United FC player. For attending the trial I should fill in the Player Registration Form, Medical Form and pay 999£ entry processing fee costs.”
— by Player from Africa about the fake invitation he received
Player from South Africa
“He contacted me via LinkedIn and asked me for my CV and video. He said Dunfermline was interested and he would help me get to the club. I only had to sign up with him and pay a fee.”
“I went in blindly and paid him. He said the club would send the papers soon.”
“Then he blocked me on WhatsApp. I sent him a message on LinkedIn that he was breaching the contract and had to give me back my money. He never responded.”
Parent of a Finnish player
“He said my son could have a trial at Parma academy.”
“My wife and I had a video call with him. He sounded very professional. We needed to hurry. There was only one place left. We also needed to pay a deposit. In total we paid a deposit of 1,500 euro.”
“Then we heard nothing from him until the day we were supposed to fly to Milan. He told us he was very, very sorry. His partners were working slowly. He told us that we could wait for a couple of days or have a refund.”
“We decided to wait. He said he would call us every day until the trial was arranged, but we never heard from him again …”
“Our son was disappointed, but he is okay now. We are more disappointed, because we didn’t realise earlier that it was a scam.”
