Scam?

[sacarlini]

Hello, I believe I am being scammed but am not sure. I am selling a phone on eBay and the buyer said he sent the payment to paypal but it wasn't showing up in my account transactions. He claims it won't show up in my account until I send a photo of the receipt and send it. He asked me to purchase a $400 gift card as well but the store wouldn't sell me a gift card and I told him that but he claims I need to re-send him the original $400 since he apparently sent it to me. I also got a suspicious email from "paypal" where they address me "dear [last name]" saying I can't refund because the money is out of the buyer's account and will be given to me once I send the receipt of the gift card. 

Can someone tell me if I'm being scammed? 

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@sacarlini 

SCAM.

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......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 via gift cards etc.

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.
Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.