Hong Kong police announced on Wednesday that they have cracked a counterfeit credit card syndicate, potentially saving millions of dollars.
 
The operation came to a head at noon on Tuesday when they forced their way into two flats, arresting two men and a woman.

They had identified the counterfeiters in intensive investigations that started in October last year.

Police seized 810 finished and half-finished fake cards, account data from 34 credit cards and equipment believed to have been used for manufacturing the cards, including computers, an embossing machine, pressing machine and encoder/decoder.
  
The potential loss that would have been incurred by the counterfeit cards was estimated at HK$19.7 million (US$2.5 million). 

(Xinhua News Agency January 13, 2005)