Scam City|行骗天下：布拉格

Scam City

by Marcus Maurice

Scams come in all shapes and sizes around the globe.

　　Imagine you are a male tourist in Prague in the Czech Republic. While you're having a few drinks at a local bar, an attractive woman comes up and starts flirting. You are taken aback by her forward nature, but you also enjoy the attention that this beautiful stranger is giving you. However, the woman mysteriously disappears just as quickly as she showed up. A few minutes later, you reach for your wallet to pay for your spirits and soon realize why she left in a flash—your wallet has been stolen. This scam as well as many others is showcased on Scam City: Prague this month on National Geographic Channel (NGC).

　　The NGC camera crew goes to Prague to learn about all the latest cons that criminals are pulling. They are extremely surprised to learn about the brazen nature of certain women. The cameramen have heard about the swindle, so they interview an American expatriate who leads a pub crawl that has had its share of trouble with the good-looking women. At first, they suggest using hidden cameras, but this turned out to be unnecessary. While interviewing the subject with a crew of men with cameras, lights, and microphones in tow, these flirtatious pickpockets still come up and try to get their hands on the men's wallets. It seems as though they don't care about being filmed at all. This fraud added to currency exchange hoaxes and taxi rip-offs makes Prague one of the biggest scam cities in the world.

行骗天下：布拉格

形形色色的骗局遍及全球。

　　想象一下你是身处捷克布拉格的男性观光客。你在当地酒吧小酌时，有一位很吸引人的女子趋前向你卖弄风骚。你被她那过分主动的本性给吓得措手不及，却又同时陶醉在这名美丽的陌生女子所献的殷勤当中。然而，这女子神秘消失的速度就像她出现时一样快。几分钟后，你伸手掏钱包要支付酒钱时，才恍然大悟她为何瞬间消失，因为你的皮夹已被扒走了。这起骗局和其他许多诈骗手法将在本月国家地理频道的《行骗天下：布拉格》中展现在众人眼前。

　　国家地理频道摄影团队走访布拉格，一探诈骗罪犯的最新技俩。他们对某些女性的厚颜无耻感到十分惊讶。摄影师都听过这类的骗术，因此采访了一位旅居布拉格的美国人，他带领大家来一场已经因那些美女而惹了不少麻烦的酒吧穿梭之旅。起初，他们建议使用隐藏式摄影机，但结果根本没有这个必要。纵使有一群工作人员架设了摄影机、灯光及麦克风来采访被扒窃的对象，这些娇艳轻挑的扒手仍然靠过来，试图觊觎男人们的皮夹。她们似乎一点也不在乎上镜头。这类的骗局再加上货币兑换时的诈骗以及搭出租车时敲竹杠的行为，在在都让布拉格成为全世界最大的诈骗城市之一。

　捷克共和国，简称捷克，是一个中欧地区的内陆国家，其前身为捷克斯洛伐克，但于 1993 年与斯洛伐克和平地分离。首都与最大城市为布拉格，跨伏尔塔瓦河两岸，风景秀丽。

　　旅游是捷克经济收入的重要来源。2001 年，旅游业的总收入达到 1181.3 亿捷克克朗，占 GNP 的百分之五点五。旅游业雇用职员超过 11 万人，占全国人口的百分之一。2008 年，来到布拉格的游客人数有所下降，可能是由于强势的捷克克朗，对于该国旅客相较于可提供的服务水平来说昂贵了许多。该国的出租车司机索价过高和扒手问题也遭到旅游指南和游客的批评。2005 年，布拉格市长 Pavel Bém 努力扑灭小型犯罪来改善该市的名声。不过，除了上述问题外，布拉格还是一个相当安全的城市，大部分地方甚至在黑暗中行走也很安全。大致而言，捷克的犯罪率还是较低的。