A 49-year-old Hyderabad resident has allegedly lost nearly ₹8 lakh after responding to a social-media advertisement that promised ₹45 lakh in exchange for an old ₹1 currency note.
The victim, a private employee from Qutbiguda, approached Hyderabad cybercrime police after repeatedly transferring money to people posing as representatives of a rare-currency buying company. Police have registered a cheating case and begun tracing the transactions and people behind the scheme.
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₹45 lakh promise began with a social-media advertisement
According to the complaint, the man came across an advertisement on September 20 claiming that collectors were willing to pay ₹45 lakh for an old Indian one-rupee note.
He contacted the number linked to the advertisement and told the supposed buyer that he possessed such a note. The scammers then began convincing him that the transaction was genuine and that the unusually high payment could be released after completing a series of formalities.
This is a common feature of old-note and rare-coin scams.
Fraudsters advertise extraordinary prices for ordinary or mildly collectible currency and then shift the conversation towards supposed registration, verification, insurance, tax or processing payments.
The victim is made to believe those smaller payments are necessary to unlock a much larger amount.
Repeated charges pushed loss to ₹7.9 lakh
The fraud did not end with one transfer.
Police say the scammers continued demanding money under different pretexts and gradually extracted about ₹7.9 lakh from the complainant.
This incremental structure is what makes such schemes effective.
A victim who has already paid one fee may agree to another rather than accept that the earlier money is gone. Fraudsters exploit that hesitation by inventing a fresh obstacle just before the promised payout.
The amounts can therefore grow from a few thousand rupees to several lakhs even though the original bait appears simple.
Old note scams rely on fake RBI and buyer claims
India has seen repeated scams involving claims that old coins and notes can be sold for lakhs or even crores.
The420.in previously reported how fraudsters advertise supposed buyers on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp and then demand money for fabricated RBI registration, certificates or verification.
Alt News separately documented a similar operation where a supposed coin buyer offered ₹8 lakh for an ordinary 25-paise coin and then demanded ₹750 for a fabricated “RBI registration” before promising an official-looking letter.
The Reserve Bank of India does not operate a scheme under which individuals must pay fees to private agents to sell old notes or coins.
Claims of “RBI approval”, “RBI certificate” or guaranteed multi-lakh buyback prices should therefore be treated as a major warning sign.
Hyderabad case follows same psychological pattern
The new case is not identical to earlier incidents, but the psychology is the same.
In February, The420.in reported that a 76-year-old Bhopal resident lost ₹1.14 lakh after a Facebook advertisement promised ₹8 lakh for an old ₹1 note. Fraudsters extracted money as supposed processing and service charges.
The Hyderabad victim was promised a much larger ₹45 lakh payout.
That extreme figure is itself a red flag.
Collectors may pay premiums for genuinely rare coins or notes depending on condition, year, printing errors and historical value, but ordinary currency does not suddenly acquire a guaranteed value of tens of lakhs simply because an online advertisement says so.
Social media remains the main entry point
The case also shows how social-media advertising gives such frauds credibility.
A professionally designed advertisement can make a fake buyer look like a genuine company.
Once the victim responds, scammers often move the conversation to WhatsApp or phone calls, where they can create urgency and avoid public scrutiny.
They may send fabricated identification cards, letters, screenshots or payment receipts to reinforce the illusion.
By the time a victim suspects fraud, several transfers may already have been made to different bank accounts.
Police will now trace the financial trail
Hyderabad cybercrime police are expected to examine the bank accounts that received the money, the phone numbers used by the scammers and the social-media account that displayed the advertisement.
Investigators will also need to establish whether the recipient accounts belonged to the fraud organisers or were mule accounts supplied by other people.
A mule account is a bank account used to receive or move proceeds on behalf of someone else.
Large cyber-fraud networks frequently use layers of such accounts to make it harder for police and banks to trace the final beneficiaries.
The ₹7.9 lakh figure represents the complainant’s alleged loss at this stage. The case remains under investigation, and no accused has yet been publicly identified in the report.
What this means for you: Treat any social-media advertisement promising lakhs for an old note or coin with extreme caution. Never pay registration, RBI clearance, insurance or processing fees to release a supposed buyer payment, and report suspected fraud immediately through 1930 and the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
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