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A GoFundMe Scam? Caught in a $400,000 hoax
GoFundMe騙局？陷入40萬美元的騙局
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
美國新澤西州一對夫婦為當地一名無家可歸的男子舉辦了一場眾籌活動，他們聲稱這名男子幫助了他們。當局指控這三人編造了這個故事——為了錢
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.
它具備了今年讓人感覺良好的故事的所有要素。凱特·麥克盧爾(Kate McClure)說，她在2017年10月開車去費城時發現自己被困在車里，沒油了。
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.
她聲稱自己被困在州際公路的一側，在一個叫小強尼·博比特的流浪漢的幫助下，她安全到達了目的地。他花了自己最后20美元幫她買了汽油。
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.
麥克盧爾和她的男友馬克·達米科(Mark D' amico)被博比特的慷慨感動了，他們在眾籌網站GoFundMe上為波比特發起了一場“提前付錢”的活動。
The campaign went viral, and within weeks 14,000 people—touched by Bobbitt's apparent act of kindness—had donated more than $402,000.
這項活動迅速傳播開來，短短幾周內，14000人——被博比特明顯的善舉感動——捐款超過402000美元。
If it all seemed too good to be true, that's because, according to prosecutors, it was.
檢察官說，如果這一切都好得令人難以置信，那是因為事實確實如此。
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，有關GoFundMe資金的去向和使用方式的令人不安的問題，促使警方展開調查，整個事件曝光，原來是一場騙局。
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，新澤西當局指控達米科、麥克盧爾和博比特犯有二級盜竊罪，罪名是欺騙和陰謀，最高可判10年監禁。
"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."
檢察官斯科特·科伊納對記者說：“整個競選活動都是建立在謊言的基礎上的。”“他們寫了一個故事，騙了很多人。”
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.
法庭文件顯示，這三人于2017年秋天在費城一家賭場附近首次會面后，策劃了這一計劃。39歲的達米科是新澤西弗洛倫斯的承包商，28歲的麥克盧爾是州政府雇員。他們都是這家賭場的常客。
(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歲的海軍陸戰隊老兵博比特從2016年起就一直在與毒癮作斗爭，生活在街頭。他已經成為這對夫婦的關注對象，曾聲稱幫助過一名受困的司機。)
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.
三人從那里編造了他們的故事。到3月為止，大約有36.7萬美元從GoFundMe轉移到麥克盧爾的銀行賬戶，博比特說，其中7.5萬美元是定期付給他的。
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.
據稱，達米科和麥克盧爾在旅行和奢侈品上揮霍掉了剩下的錢，其中包括在拉斯維加斯度假花掉2.07萬美元、一輛寶馬花掉2.44萬美元的和名牌手提包花掉1.14萬美元。
The couple also spent money putting Bobbitt up in a hotel and buying him an RV camper.
這對夫婦還花錢讓博比特住進了一家酒店，還給他買了一輛房車露營車。
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.
資金轉移后的幾周內，麥克盧爾的賬戶就空了，到了8月，博比特也花光了所有的錢，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.
憤怒而絕望的博比特起訴達米科和麥克盧爾犯有欺詐罪，迫使他們在法庭上承認錢不見了——于是一切都結束了。
( People's requests for comment were not returned.) In the meantime GoFundMe has pledged to fully refund every donor, calling the alleged fraud "unacceptable."
(《人物雜志》的置評請求沒有收到回復。)與此同時，GoFundMe已承諾將全額退還所有捐贈者，并稱所謂的欺詐行為“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."
檢察官科伊納補充說：“這樣的案件會讓慷慨的人產生懷疑，而且……不愿幫助有需要的人；我敦促大家不要讓這種情況發生。”
