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A GoFundMe Scam? Caught in a $400,000 hoax
GoFundMe骗局？陷入40万美元的骗局
After a New Jersey couple make headlines with a crowdfunding campaign for a local homeless man they say helped them, authorities charge all three with inventing the story—for cash
美国新泽西州一对夫妇为当地一名无家可归的男子举办了一场众筹活动，他们声称这名男子帮助了他们。当局指控这三人编造了这个故事——为了钱
It had all the makings of the feel-good story of the year. Kate McClure said that in October 2017 she found herself stranded and out of gas while driving to Philadelphia.
它具备了今年让人感觉良好的故事的所有要素。凯特·麦克卢尔(Kate McClure)说，她在2017年10月开车去费城时发现自己被困在车里，没油了。
Stuck on the side of the interstate, she claimed she made it to safety with help from a homeless man named Johnny Bobbitt Jr., who spent his last $20 buying gas for her car.
她声称自己被困在州际公路的一侧，在一个叫小强尼·博比特的流浪汉的帮助下，她安全到达了目的地。他花了自己最后20美元帮她买了汽油。
McClure and her boyfriend Mark D'Amico were so moved by Bobbitt's generosity that they set up a "Paying It Forward" campaign for him on GoFundMe, the crowdfunding website.
麦克卢尔和她的男友马克·达米科(Mark D' amico)被博比特的慷慨感动了，他们在众筹网站GoFundMe上为波比特发起了一场“提前付钱”的活动。
The campaign went viral, and within weeks 14,000 people—touched by Bobbitt's apparent act of kindness—had donated more than $402,000.
这项活动迅速传播开来，短短几周内，14000人——被博比特明显的善举感动——捐款超过402000美元。
If it all seemed too good to be true, that's because, according to prosecutors, it was.
检察官说，如果这一切都好得令人难以置信，那是因为事实确实如此。
In September troubling questions about where and how the GoFundMe money had been spent prompted a police investigation that exposed the whole story as a hoax.
今年9月，有关GoFundMe资金的去向和使用方式的令人不安的问题，促使警方展开调查，整个事件曝光，原来是一场骗局。
Last week New Jersey authorities charged D'Amico, McClure and Bobbitt with second-degree theft by deception and conspiracy, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
上周，新泽西当局指控达米科、麦克卢尔和博比特犯有二级盗窃罪，罪名是欺骗和阴谋，最高可判10年监禁。
"The entire campaign was predicated on a lie," prosecutor Scott Coina told reporters. "They put out a story that hoodwinked an awful lot of people."
检察官斯科特·科伊纳对记者说：“整个竞选活动都是建立在谎言的基础上的。”“他们写了一个故事，骗了很多人。”
According to court documents, the trio cooked up the scheme after first meeting in the fall of 2017 near a Philadelphia casino where the 39-year-old D' Amico, a Florence, N.J.-based contractor, and McClure, 28, a state employee, were regulars.
法庭文件显示，这三人于2017年秋天在费城一家赌场附近首次会面后，策划了这一计划。39岁的达米科是新泽西弗洛伦斯的承包商，28岁的麦克卢尔是州政府雇员。他们都是这家赌场的常客。
(Bobbitt, a 35-year-old Marine Corps veteran who'd been struggling with drug addiction and living on the streets since 2016, was already on the couple's radar and had once claimed to have helped a stranded motorist.)
(35岁的海军陆战队老兵博比特从2016年起就一直在与毒瘾作斗争，生活在街头。他已经成为这对夫妇的关注对象，曾声称帮助过一名受困的司机。)
The trio concocted their story from there. By March roughly $367,000 had been transferred from GoFundMe to McClure's bank account— $75,000 of which Bobbitt said was paid to him in periodic amounts.
三人从那里编造了他们的故事。到3月为止，大约有36.7万美元从GoFundMe转移到麦克卢尔的银行账户，博比特说，其中7.5万美元是定期付给他的。
D'Amico and McClure allegedly burned through the rest on trips and luxury items, including a $20,700 Las Vegas vacation, a $24,400 BMW and $11,400 worth of designer handbags.
据称，达米科和麦克卢尔在旅行和奢侈品上挥霍掉了剩下的钱，其中包括在拉斯维加斯度假花掉2.07万美元、一辆宝马花掉2.44万美元的和名牌手提包花掉1.14万美元。
The couple also spent money putting Bobbitt up in a hotel and buying him an RV camper.
这对夫妇还花钱让博比特住进了一家酒店，还给他买了一辆房车露营车。
Within weeks after the funds transfer, McClure's account was empty, and by August Bobbitt had spent all of his money too and was back living on the streets.
资金转移后的几周内，麦克卢尔的账户就空了，到了8月，博比特也花光了所有的钱，回到了街上。
Angry and desperate, Bobbitt sued D'Amico and McClure for fraud, forcing them to admit in court that the cash was gone—and the jig was up.
愤怒而绝望的博比特起诉达米科和麦克卢尔犯有欺诈罪，迫使他们在法庭上承认钱不见了——于是一切都结束了。
( People's requests for comment were not returned.) In the meantime GoFundMe has pledged to fully refund every donor, calling the alleged fraud "unacceptable."
(《人物杂志》的置评请求没有收到回复。)与此同时，GoFundMe已承诺将全额退还所有捐赠者，并称所谓的欺诈行为“不可接受”。
Added prosecutor Coina: "A case like this can make generous people skeptical and . . . hesitant to help someone else in need; I urge everyone not to let that happen."
检察官科伊纳补充说：“这样的案件会让慷慨的人产生怀疑，而且……不愿帮助有需要的人；我敦促大家不要让这种情况发生。”
