Five people, including a 16-year-old, have been arrested in connection with a spate of 10 scams that primarily targeted the elderly.

The police enforcement operation, conducted from November 6 to 8, dismantled a cross-boundary phone scam syndicate and led to the arrests of the five – one man from the mainland and four locals.

Officers on Saturday said the group was suspected of defrauding victims out of a total of HK$2.19 million between September and November.

According to Tam Chung-ki, acting chief inspector of the regional crime unit for Kowloon East, the fraudsters used emotionally manipulative tactics.

"The scammers impersonated the victims' children or friends of their children, using various excuses, such as being arrested and needing bail money, or requiring to compensate people for causing bodily harm," she said.

"They exploited the elderly's concern for their loved ones' safety, leading them into the scam.

"Victims are instructed by the fraudsters to hand over large sums of money to strangers."

Police investigations revealed a sophisticated operation designed to collect and launder the illicit gains while evading detection.

The syndicate recruited locals to act as "money mules" who would be responsible for collecting the cash from victims.

To prevent these mules from absconding with the money, the group held on to their identity cards and photographed them on the day of the transaction.

"When it's time to collect the money, the syndicate would send one or two key members to supervise the entire process," Tam said.

"As soon as the money is received, the mules are required to hand it over to the key members nearby.

"The key members then immediately deposit the money into the syndicate's cryptocurrency account."

To further complicate police efforts, Tam said the group used multiple mules rather than relying on any single individual.

The key members sent to supervise the cash handovers were often mainlanders as part of an attempt to leverage their brief stays in Hong Kong to create investigative hurdles.

The key member is here on a two-way permit while the four local money mules are alleged to have obtained property by deception.

The five – four men and one woman aged between 16 and 34 – reportedly held jobs as travel consultants, warehouse workers and waiters or were unemployed.

The victims in the 10 scams are all retirees aged between 67 and 93 years old.

The highest single loss was HK$700,000.

All five remain in custody as investigations continue.