Chinese authorities have arrested over 200 people in connection with an online lottery fraud operation.

On Wednesday, China’s state-run media agency Xinhua reported that police in Shaanxi province had raided three locations earlier this month and detained 203 individuals, of whom over 100 will face criminal charges in connection with their bogus lottery scheme.

The report indicated that the ring operated by contacting players on social networking platforms such as QQ and WeChat with promises of high odds of winning lottery jackpots, then making the pitch to purchase lottery tickets online.

But the lottery tickets were bogus, and a disgruntled customer who lost RMB 45k (US $6,500) to the scammers alerted police in January. The ring, which was in operation since 2015, reportedly generated sales of RMB 100m ($14.5m) before the authorities got wind of their dealings.