Two men and three women have been arrested for allegedly making seven young people borrow nearly HK$250,000 from financial firms on their behalf.
The gang recruited the victims, mostly students, to work as 'undercover customers' to check on the service quality of financial companies.
Police said the victims were told to apply for loans of at least HK$15,000. One victim borrowed HK$80,000 from three firms.
The gang made the young people give them the money.
'They were promised HK$150 to HK$800 for each successful local application,' a police officer said. 'But none of them received the payments.'
Police raided several places in the New Territories on Sunday and Monday and arrested the five suspects. They also seized computers, mobile phones, bank records and cash.