Police and Shenzhen Public Security Bureau neutralized deception syndicate (With photo)
**************************************************************

Hong Kong Police and Shenzhen Public Security Bureau neutralized a deception syndicate in a joint operation resulting in the arrest of three male Mainlanders.

The Police Commercial Crime Bureau, the Regional Crime Unit of Kowloon West, and Shenzhen Public Security Bureau established a task group in March this year to fight against employment scam in Shenzhen. After intelligence exchange and in-depth investigations, the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau arrested three men, aged between 22 and 31, in Shenzhen.

It is believed that a deception syndicate, which actively involving in employment scam in Shenzhen, was neutralized. The syndicate started its operation since December, 2007 and was in connection with more than 70 employment scam cases.

The syndicate posted advertisements on Hong Kong's newspaper to recruit Hong Kong citizens to bring goods back from Shenzhen, with remunerations ranging from HKD 480 to 550. The employed people were arranged to meet and pick up the goods in Dongmen and Futian, Shenzhen. The members of syndicate requested the victims to pay a deposit from HKD 600 to 6 000 before the delivery, claiming the goods were high in value. The victims found nobody at the destination to received the goods, which were in fact low-price products.

The Hong Kong Police received a total of 110 reports with similar modus operandi since December 2007, involving a total amount of about HKD 324 000. The victims, including seniors, housewives, and unemployed, whose age are between 18 to 68. Some of the cases reported were in connection with the syndicate.

Police reminds the public to be vigilant against this kind of crimes. If job seekers were offered a delivery job, they should aware of the values of the goods and verify the employer's identity as well as the destination, when being asked to pay deposits for the goods before the delivery. The public are urged to report to the police if suspected to be deceived.

Police Report No. 8
Issued by PPRB

Ends/ Thursday, April 2, 2009
NNNN