Police arrested five people in what could be China's biggest yet Internet get-rich-quick scam, involving more than US$28 million.
Lin Jiexiong and Zhang Guiling were trying to withdraw money from a bank in Guangzhou and were carrying US$43,000 on July 5 when police took them into custody, where they remain, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Three others were arrested on the same day.
Through a front company called Shenlong Shuma, or "Digital Dragon," the group told people they could earn money by clicking on advertisements on the company's Web site if they first bought a membership card for US$46, Xinhua said.
They told members they could earn about 4 cents by clicking once on an advertisement and that they could only click 33 times in one day.
At its height, Shenlong Shuma shipped 10,000 to 30,000 cards daily in 30 provinces and cities, Xinhua said.
Police grew suspicious of the company when it took in US$120,000 in revenue a day, which it said was revenue for placing advertisements for third parties.
After seizing assets and shutting down offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Henan province, police concluded that Shenlong Shuma had no way of recording the clicks on its Web site, Xinhua said.
