Chinese and Philippine law enforcement authorities have jointly arrested and repatriated a key member of a cross-border gambling syndicate involving over 2.92 billion yuan (about $433 million), the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines said on Wednesday.

The syndicate operated an online gambling platform in the Philippines, luring people through website promotions, social media ads, agent recruitment and referrals. It manipulated back-end data, imposed stringent withdrawal conditions and prolonged betting sessions to defraud gamblers, according to the embassy.

The embassy urged people to stay away from all forms of gambling.