Lantau driving permits are the unlikely centrepiece of an online scam in which 22 people have been defrauded of HK$2.82 million, police say.

The Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau arrested two men this week for allegedly defrauding people by promising to sell them a Lantau Closed Road Permit for HK$9,800.

After victims sent their personal details, the men blackmailed them, in some cases multiple times, by threatening to to post their information online, Sing Tao reported.

They also made multiple “get rich quick” social media posts promising to help people invest in Bitcoin and offering gambling tips for Macau. “Hundreds of thousands is not a dream,” one post said.

The 22 victims included students and professionals and ranged in age from 16 to 56 years old. The total sums gained from the Lantau driver permit frauds totalled approximately HK$100,000.

The largest single fraud involved a Bitcoin and a sum of HK$2.5 million, HK01 reported.

The two suspects, a 36-year-old man from Wong Tai Sin and a 38-year-old from Wanchai, have been charged with obtaining property by deception.