Customs officers on Friday announced they arrested seven people and dismantled a syndicate that hawked suspected counterfeit brand-name products online.

The arrests came after the Customs and Excise Department received reports that such products could be found advertised for sale at large discounts on social media.

Officers also seized more than 9,200 suspected counterfeit products worth HK$15 million, a record for such fakes sold online, in raids on two factory buildings, in Yuen Long and Tsing Yi.

The seven people arrested on September 9 were four men and three women aged between 24 and 57. Two of them were directors of companies linked to the alleged scam.

The department has not ruled out the possibility of further arrests.

Senior inspector Amos Hong said officers believe the group had imported the counterfeits by tinkering around with the waybills.

Among the products seized were alleged counterfeits of Chinese health brand Wai Yuen Tong.

Hong said people can verify such products' authenticity by checking the size of the box, the pill capsules, as well as designs of the bottle itself.

He suggested that customers should not purchase from non-official websites or those with no connection to the brand involved.

"If a consumer has previously purchased genuine items from an authorised dealer or official store, they should make [a] comparison when they receive an item from a new online store," he said.

"I believe that because of the distinctive features [of branded products], they can easily identify or differentiate the genuine items and the counterfeit items that they purchased recently through the online store."