The party's Sham Shui Po councillor Ramon Yuen Hoi-man, said the company's independent distributors would approach victims' classmates and colleagues to sell goods like essential oil, milk powder, red wine and skin care products.

"They would first request the victims pay HK$5,210 as a 'franchise fee,' then they would take advantage of the victims' desire to make money and use different excuses to attract them to continue investing," Yuen said.

Most victims bought goods worth up to HK$400,000.

Yuen said the distributors would encourage the victims to borrow money if they did not have enough savings.

"The distributors would ask the victims to provide personal information, then apply for loans from multiple companies. One of the victims applied for loans from seven companies," Yuen said.

He also said the distributors requested some victims set up a private company or make fake payslips to borrow money.

They said they could do nothing against the multilevel marketing company as it would distance itself from its independent distributors.

One victim, a waiter at a hotel, bought HK$60,000 worth of milk powder after talking to a woman on a dating app.

He was then taken to several finance companies to borrow money to buy milk powder and jewelry worth HK$380,000.

Some of the complainants have reported their cases to the police.

Yuen also sent a letter to the commissioner of police last month requesting a serious investigation, but has yet to receive a reply.

Yuen believed many university graduates and students could become victims of unscrupulous sales practices as they ventured into the labor market under the high unemployment rate.

"Multilevel marketing targets the weaknesses in human instinct, such as greediness and reluctance to refuse others," he said.

Yuen urged people to stay vigilant.