Police on Friday said they had arrested 156 people in a major crackdown on online shopping fraud, solving 269 cases involving more than HK$6 million in direct losses and unravelling money flows exceeding HK$25 million.

The three-week operation, codenamed "Blacksword", ran from January 12 to 30.

Officers said those arrested — 108 men and 48 women aged between 14 and 75 — face charges including obtaining property by deception, conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.

Chief Inspector Sun Yi-ki said that 126 of those detained were holders of "mule" accounts used to receive illicit funds, many of whom claimed to be unemployed.

"We believe criminal syndicates exploited some citizens' desire to make quick money by recruiting them to provide accounts for receiving fraud-related funds," she said.

Through intelligence analysis, the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau identified that roughly half of the 269 solved cases were linked to 12 local fraudsters belonging to five distinct groups.

"They claimed on online platforms to be able to sell popular goods, including concert tickets or related fan merchandise," Sun said.

"Among these five groups, some operated in small teams, including couples or friends. They primarily set up schemes on mainstream online shopping platforms, using simple and direct methods."

The scam, she said, typically followed a pattern: after attracting victims on shopping platforms, fraudsters would move conversations to other messaging apps to bypass platform safeguards.

They would then pressure buyers with a sense of urgency, constantly urging immediate bank transfers into provided "mule" accounts.

Once payment was made, Sun said the sellers would vanish.

Officers said over 60 percent of the cases involved concert tickets, with a victim initially transferring HK$3,500 in one instance for two concert tickets seen on a social media post.

"The fraudster then used various excuses to claim the transfers had failed, pressuring the victim to make repeated payments. The victim ultimately lost HK$300,000," Sun said.

Following an in-depth investigation, authorities launched a targeted operation on January 28, arresting 12 key individuals.

She said they are suspected of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering in connection with 128 fraud cases occurring between January and September 2025.

"They also used at least 13 accounts belonging to themselves or other "mules" to receive the fraud proceeds," she said.

Police also seized multiple mobile phones during the arrests.

Officers noted that from January to November last year, there were 11,449 recorded online shopping scams, accounting for 45 percent of all fraud cases, with total losses amounting to HK$350 million.

About 30 percent of these cases involved the Carousell platform, while cases related to social media platforms, Instagram and Facebook, accounted for 25 percent and 22 percent, respectively.

Approximately 60 percent of the victims were aged 30 or younger.