I was recently alerted that one of my items was sold on Ebay. The buyer made an offer on the item, and I accepted the offer. The buyer contacted me and said that in addition to the item he purchased, he was hoping he could cover the cost of a steam gaming gift card, to be placed in the box when I ship the item, as it is a birthday gift. I was reluctant, but agreed to do so because I have been trying to sell the item. The buyer told me to email <removed>" and let them know about the exchange, to protect us both from fraud/scam. I did so and not to long after received a response saying that the buyer had sent the funds agreed upon. Though I wasn't confident in what was taking place, receiving emails from what seemed to be PayPal, put me at a ease a bit. (I have yet to determine if this email exchange is actually PayPal or somebody posing as them) In the email, it stated that in order for the funds to be verified and deposited into my account, I would need to first provide photo proof of the gift card purchased along with the receipt. I proceeded to do so and sent all requested documents to the above email. All while keeping the buyer updated. After all of this was completed, the email above informed me that my account needs to be upgraded in order to receive the funds. I was advised that I needed to purchase $500 worth of Ebay giftcards, to upgrade my paypal account, in order to receive the money. The situation has slowly started to make less sense and I am not sure if I am reading it correctly. One of the big red flags for me is that the above email requested for me to scratch the back of the gift card to reveal the code. For me to send that as proof that the cards haven't been used, and then the money would be credited to my account. To me that simply speaks of somebody scamming for free gaming gift cards. In which unfortunately I may have fell for. What is the best course of action for me to take here?
