Mumbai: A 33-year-old Andheri homemaker fell prey to a cyber fraud where she was promised Rs 26.5 lakh for an old Rs 5 note featuring a tractor on the back and ended up losing nearly Rs 50,000. Amboli police registered an FIR on Tuesday against unidentified persons for cheating.On August 29, the complainant, R M Bagham, saw an advertisement of ‘Old Coin Company Mumbai’ in Kandivli that purchases old Indian currency at high rates on Facebook. She called on the number displayed in the ad and a man answered. He asked her to send photographs of the old note, her Aadhaar card and herself on WhatsApp and offered to pay Rs 26.5 lakh for the note. The man told her that a representative would collect the note on August 30 and asked her to pay Rs 720 for an identity card. The next day, he told her to pay a registration fee of Rs 12,500, saying it would be refunded. In her complaint, Bagham said: “Initially, I transferred Rs 12,000. The man allegedly claimed the payment had not been reflected because it was Rs 500 short and persuaded me to transfer another Rs 12,500 through a different UPI account, promising a Rs 24,500 refund.”He later demanded Rs 24,500 as GST on the promised amount. Bagham transferred the amount on August 30, after which he allegedly stopped answering her calls and blocked her on WhatsApp. She then approached the police.“Scammers post fake ads on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, claiming collectors pay massive sums (such as Rs 1 crore or more) for an old Rs 5 note featuring a tractor on the back,” said an officer from Amboli police station. “We are tracking the caller and have frozen the bank account where the money was transferred.”
