Am I Being Scammed?

[SRHaarman]

I had someone say they wanted to buy a Pokemon card from my eBay, but things seem fishy. I recieved an email from "PayPal" saying that my funds are being held until I provide them with a tracking number. However, this email is from <removed> Furthermore, there is no transaction showing up in my PayPal account, and eBay has not sent me confirmation that my item has sold. This buyer claims that the money has already been deducted from his account, but I don't want to ship the item until I get more information from him. 

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@SRHaarman 

This 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......this won't happen.

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.
Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.