Conman posed as Premier League academy boss fleecing parents for £500 ‘trials’
A conman posing as a Premier League academy boss fleeced parents by making them think they could buy places for their children.
Under the name Egzy Gomez Jr, he set up bogus websites and email addresses to charge £500 a time to secure non-existent trials at Liverpool or Newcastle United. Lawyers for both clubs have obtained the right to seize his websites.
The man – understood to be from Birmingham – has been reported to police and is under investigation by Trading Standards.
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The UN’s World Intellectual Property Organisation ruled “Gomez” used the clubs’ trademark names to “offer children the opportunity of a non-existent football trial in return for £500 to a fictitious third party by using an email address using the disputed domain name”.
It said the conman – whose real identity has not been revealed – used the sites “for fraud by falsely representing himself as a senior member of clubs”.
The scammer was also found to have “deliberately appropriated” names confusingly similar to both clubs in one of the most “egregious examples” of someone impersonating football execs for gain.
When he was approached by the UN organisation a “third party” replied, saying: “All I know is that I legally bought an email domain.
"I have not done anything wrong so whatever complaint was filled is not for me.’’
A Birmingham City Council spokesman said: “There is an investigation into this matter. We are unable to give any details.” Both clubs declined to comment.
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