Odaily News Hong Kong police smashed a local fraud syndicate and arrested 27 people. They were suspected of defrauding many local and overseas victims for about a year, with a total amount of defrauded up to 360 million yuan. Superintendent Yao Yongqin of the New Territories South Regional Crime Headquarters said that the police received intelligence about the fraud syndicate in August this year. After two months of investigation, the location of its operation center and the identity of the syndicate members were locked. On the 9th of this month, an arrest operation codenamed "Code Word" was carried out, mobilizing more than 100 detectives from the New Territories South Regional Crime Department, and the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau assisted in collecting evidence on network and cryptocurrency transactions. Yao Yongqin described the fraud syndicate as highly secretive, with tight security outside the unit, and also required the victims to trade in more private cryptocurrency without involving any bank accounts, which increased the difficulty of the police in tracing the proceeds of the crime. However, after this arrest operation, the police believe that they have successfully dismantled this large and highly organized fraud syndicate. He also pointed out that the fraud group mainly uses online romance to lure victims into investing in cryptocurrency and defraud money. Therefore, the group will hire technology professionals, including graduates majoring in digital media from local universities, for technical support, and also work with overseas fraudsters to build a fake cryptocurrency platform. (Hong Kong 01)