Hong Kong police have arrested seven men suspected of operating a highly organised crime syndicate to steal credit cards from people in crowded locations such as sports grounds and buying luxury items worth more than HK$4 million (US$513,800).
Senior Inspector Tsui Wai-ying of the force’s regional technology and financial crime unit said on Sunday that the syndicate was responsible for a series of thefts and large-scale credit card fraud across multiple districts between September and December.
She said the group’s meticulously planned operation primarily involved dispatching members to crowded areas in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, such as sports grounds, cafes and restaurants, to steal credit cards.
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“They stole the credit cards from the victims’ wallets while they were unaware, and then put the wallets and other belongings back in place, making it difficult for the victim to immediately discover their credit cards were missing,” Tsui said.
Intermediaries would then distribute the stolen cards to other members, who swiftly visited luxury clothing and handbag stores, as well as dried seafood shops, to make large-scale transactions.
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“Each transaction could be as high as hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars. They used the fastest speed to extract the credit card’s maximum limit,” Tsui said.
The force’s Hong Kong Island regional headquarters reviewed large amounts of CCTV footage to trace the sequence of criminal activities involving pickpockets, intermediaries and buyers, mapping out their movements and spending habits, which ultimately led to the suspects being arrested on Friday and Saturday.