Am I being scammed?

[kikisoumo]

I recently sold a camera, and requested the money from the buyer,

she sent me $1000. I then got a message from paypal stating that it is pending.

The following day I get another message saying that I should ask the buyer to pay $600 to expand my account to a business account..???

Very odd..

The email also had a strange format, and typos...

I am messaging the buyer on FB message.

Her name is Rita <Removed>.

She claims to have had this problem before and it worked out for her and her friend...

So.. she "sent" the $600 and I get another email saying that I will have $1700 dollars in my account ($100 for compensation from paypal) once I go buy a $600 Ebay gift card for Rita as reimbursement for the $600 she sent to expand my account?

I am then told to send a picture of the front and back of the card with all the numbers showing and hidden code scratched off as proof, then they will transfer the money into my account..

Ummm..

What the heck?

None of this makes sense to me and is very fishy.

I thought I could trust this person (who appears to be an old lady) and now I don't know what to do?

And what really **bleep** is I already sent the camera out!!!

Please help!

[kernowlass]

@kikisoumo 

SCAM.

They encourage you to accept a direct Paypal payment and may ask you to send the item internationally.

They ask you to send a money request so that they have your email address to send you fake paypal emails.
No funds or activity of the transaction shows in your Paypal account and any emails may go into your junk/spam folders.

You will get/got a "fake" email that looks as though it is from paypal.....it isn't because they don't have a Paypal account and have no intention of paying you.
It will say the buyer has paid ...you won't have been paid.
They will tell you that the payment is released when you provide paypal with a tracking/shipping number......this won't happen.

Once you have become a victim they may try again with more fake Paypal emails with other reasons that you must send them a payment for custom fees / to verify, expand or upgrade an account.

Paypal NEVER tell you to send an item before the payment is showing in your paypal account.
Paypal do not tell you to send trackable, they advise it for selling protection but it is not compulsory.
Paypal NEVER expect you to use a rival money transfer service eg Moneygram, Western Union, Bank Transfer or any sort of gift token or voucher for anything paypal account related.
Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.