Scam?

UniqueStyl3
Contributor
Contributor
I recently posted an item and accepted an offer, the buyer asked me to purchase and send a $400 Ebay giftcard with the item, I go and get the giftcards and send a pic of the receipt and giftcards to the email that Paypal emailed me from, they then asked me to scratch open the PIN of the giftcard and send them the pic through email, this seems very sketchy to me and I told the guy I wasn’t sure so he started getting angry with me and apparently he reported me and now I’ve just received an email from Paypal telling me to send the pic of the scratched giftcards in 2 hours or they will take legal action, the email had horrible grammar and I never received any notifications on my Paypal account, only received emails, pretty sure it is but is this a scam?
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3 REPLIES 3

kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@UniqueStyl3 

 

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 actually 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.

If they think you are falling for their scam they may try getting you to add in tokens or vouchers stating they will add in the cost...will never happen. 
They also 'sometimes' threaten legal action...have a laugh at that one and ignore it as its 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.
Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.


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UniqueStyl3
Contributor
Contributor
Unfortunately before I caught on to it being a scam I went out and bought 2 $200 Ebay giftcards, Is there any way I can return them?
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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@UniqueStyl3 

 

Read this link especially the bit at the bottom about reporting and they should tell you if you can get a refund.

Glad I stopped you sending them its why i give up my time to help on here, hate scammers.

https://pages.ebay.com/giftcard/faqs.html


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