78 arrested as Hong Kong police bust HK$5 million online shopping scams

Hong Kong police have arrested 78 people in a citywide crackdown on online shopping fraud, solving 165 cases involving more than HK$5 million (US$637,565) in losses, including one victim who was cheated out of HK$1.2 million while seeking cheaper medicine. Officers arrested 59 men and 19 women aged between 15 and 73 during the operation code-named “Blacksword”, which ran from June 15 to 26.

Of them, 69 were suspected holders of mule accounts used to transfer or process illicit proceeds, with the