Two men and three women have been arrested for allegedly coaxing seven youngsters, mostly students, to borrow nearly HK$250,000 from financial companies on their behalf.
The syndicate disguised itself as a services company and recruited the victims to work as 'undercover customers' to check on the service quality of financial companies.
Police said victims were told to use their personal particulars to apply for personal loans of at least HK$15,000. One victim managed to borrow HK$80,000 from three financial firms.
The young people were ordered to hand over the money.
'They were promised HK$150 to HK$800 for each successful local application,' the officer said. 'But none of them received the payments.'
Police raided several locations in the New Territories on Sunday and Monday and arrested the five. They also seized computers, mobile phones, bank records and cash.
The suspects, who are jobless, include a 21-year-old woman mastermind. They were still being held for questioning last night.