Scam

[Haylezc]

I have no idea if I’m getting scammed or not. I have a feeling I am and I’m very wary when it comes to this sort of thing so I came here to ask too just incase. I’m selling shoes for $350 on eBay and after someone asked to have it shipped today I told them I do not wish to ship until I receive the money into my actual bank account. After a few Back and fourth emails (yes I know you’re not supposed to contact people outside of eBay but I’m so new to this) they user said the money was sent and I recieved 2 emails from “PayPal” Although they just don’t seem right to me and I don’t want to see like a cow or like I’m scamming the other person if it does happen to be real. The email came from a gmail account... do PayPal even ema customers by a gmail account? And read : Funds Are On The Way! Payment Review Outcome: Cleared, OK to Ship. Scan and send us proof. Hello,{then my email}   We have completed our payment review and have cleared this transaction which will reflect on your balance after complete verification of the receipt and picture of the gift card purchased/receipt. What to do next: (Kindly visit any nearest store around you and purchase the gift card so you can email us the receipt and picture of the gift card for proper verification so we can release the total pending funds into your account.) Payment Details: Amount:$620.00 AUD Transaction ID: {the “ID” Buyer's Email: {their email} We are pleased to inform you that your account will be credited with the total amount of $620.00 AUD after verification is completed. To know if your item is covered, check the 'Seller Protection' section of the 'PayPal Terms and Conditions' page. Please help me, I’m so confused on this and I don’t want to do the wrong thing by either person!

[kernowlass]

@Haylezc 

Firstly the non scam bit, a buyer has paid the minute the funds show in your paypal account balance, if the funds are on hold as you are a new seller OR you need to transfer them to your bank account then that is between you and paypal and not the buyer. You should ship any item as soon as the buyer has paid, I would be miffed if the seller said they wanted to wait till the funds were in their bank account first. Also it would make no difference as if the buyer opened a dispute and won, even if the funds were in your bank account you would still have to refund the buyer.

Secondly the SCAM bit and I can confirm yours is the below scam.......

SCAM.
They may buy on Ebay but they use an anonymous or hijacked Ebay account and do not have a Paypal account so they can't use Ebay checkout.

They encourage you to accept a direct Paypal payment and may ask you to send the item internationally.
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 OR they won't want the item and try to scam you of a gift card saying you must send that first before funds are released........which is rubbish.

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 send gift cards scanned or numbers read BEFORE being paid.
Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.