The arrestees included 71 men and 29 women aged 19 to 74. Most were local residents and were reportedly clerks, salespeople, retirees, or jobless.

Most of the arrestees were responsible for providing the crime ring with their bank accounts for receiving and handling crime proceeds. A small number of them were found to have used stolen credit cards to shop and resell the items.

The 63 scams detected by police were related to online shopping, investment, online romance, job hunting, and click-farming employment, as victims faced losses starting from HK$550.

In one case, a victim in Canada was swindled out of HK$23 million over an online romance-investment scam, marking the biggest losses recorded in one single case.

Wan Chai police added they recently spotted a rising trend in the number of stolen credit card cases or credit card thefts, up from 14 in the first quarter of last year to 37 in the same period this year.

After in-depth investigations, police have arrested a 39-year-old woman for stealing four credit cards from three people and spending about HK$210,000.

Investigations revealed the criminals usually targeted citizens in busy areas who were inattentive to their personal belongings.

After stealing the credit cards, the criminals would try making small purchases in convenience stores. As they ensured the card was still active, they would turn to large-scale retail chains and buy items like computers, smartphones, and gift cards that could be resold easily.

Police then reminded citizens to beware of thieves in crowded areas as society returned to normalcy.