情人劫:每3小时就发生一起约会诈骗案

One incident of dating fraud is now being reported around every three hours, according to an initiative warning of the dangers of con artists preying on people looking for romance.

据一份报案报告统计，英国平均每3小时就会发生一起约会诈骗的报案。报告提醒人们，骗子会对那些渴望爱情的人下手。

Around seven reports of dating fraud on average are received every day by Action Fraud, the national fraud reporting service, equating to around one every three hours.

英国防诈骗行动处表示，日均会接到约7宗报案，相当于每3小时发生一起。

Typically, victims will make their first transfer of money to the fraudster within a month of contact. The average victim of dating fraud loses ?10,000 according to the findings released ahead of Valentine's Day on Tuesday.

通常，受害者会在相识不足一个月就给诈骗分子转第一笔钱。在周二情人节前夕发布的报告显示，人均被骗金额高达1万英镑。

The figures were released as Victim Support, Age UK, the City of London Police, London Metropolitan Police and Get Safe Online said they would work in partnership with the Online Dating Association in efforts to better understand how fraudsters operate and reduce the number of people falling victim to dating fraud.

这些数据发布时，受害者协会、英国老年协会、伦敦市警察局、伦敦大都会警察局和安全上网俱乐部等多个组织表示将会联手合作，与网上交友平台一起努力揭露骗子是如何作案的，以此减少上当受骗的人数。

Tips for people using dating websites and apps using the hashtag #datesafe will be shared online.

他们在网上发起了#安全约会#的话题，与人们分享安全使用约会网站和app的技巧。

Tony Neate, CEO of Get Safe Online, said that while many couples do meet online, the problem of cyber criminals targeting people for significant financial gain is growing.

"安全上网"负责人托尼·尼特说，随着更多情侣在网上约会，以骗取大量钱财为目的网络犯罪与日俱增。

He said: "?10,000 is a staggering amount for the average online dater to lose to a fraudster who they've been led to believe is the real deal. It's not just the financial loss though; dating fraud can have a huge emotional impact on a victim too."

他说："由于被骗子误导，受害者以为在做真实的交易，每人平均丢失的1万英镑是个惊人的数字。而这不仅是财务上的损失，受害者还会承受巨大的情感创伤。"

He said in some cases, people had lost everything - including their savings and their homes.

"在一些案件中有人失去了一切，包括存款和房子。"

Mr Neate said: "Anyone who has fallen in love knows how easy it is to get swept up in the romance of it all and let their heart rule their head, so we're urging people to take a little caution when meeting someone new online."

"任何一个陷入过情网的人都知道，在恋爱时多么容易被浪漫冲昏头脑，失去理智，所以我们敦促人们在网上认识新人时都得谨慎一点。"

Commander Chris Greany, City of London Police and national coordinator for economic crime said: "These crimes destroy lives and the emotional damage often far outweighs the financial loss.

伦敦市的警官员和国家经济犯罪协调员克里斯·格里尼说，"此类犯罪毁掉了很多人的生活，心理创伤往往远大于金钱损失。"

"Never give money to people you meet online, no matter what emotional sob story the person uses."

"永远不要给你在网上结识的人汇钱，不管这个人讲的故事多么令人伤感。"

Those behind the initiative said that across 2016, nearly ?40m was lost through dating fraud. This is believed to be the tip of the iceberg, as many victims are thought to be too embarrassed to report what has happened.

报告称2016年中，将近4000万英镑被约会诈骗分子收入囊中。据信这只是冰山一角，因为很多人羞于报案。

Andrew McClelland, chief executive of the Online Dating Association said fraudsters will often try to move victims away from online dating services as soon as they can, "so we encourage users to continue communicating via the dating service which helps dating providers to detect fraudulent behaviour".

安德鲁·麦克莱兰德，网上交友协会的首席执行官说，通常诈骗分子会试图尽快让受害者从在线交友服务上下线，"所以我们鼓励用户先在约会服务平台上保持交流，有助于平台运营者识别出骗子行为。"