Received email saying payment is on hold, but no notification or pending transaction showing.

[toriwillow]

Hi, I had an item up for sale on gumtree and someone contacted me wanting to buy it and asked if they could pay via PayPal. I agreed and they said they had sent the money, and that it would stay on hold until I provided them with a tracking number to show the item had been shipped. 

This was all well and good, and I had indeed received an email that said the same. However when I logged in to my PayPal account, there was no notification or anything anywhere that indicated there was any transaction pending. Same with the app. I told them I couldn't send them the item with nothing more than an email as proof of payment. I told  them I couldn't understand why nothing was showing up in my account. 

They have got pretty narky with me in the last hour. They asked me to add them on WhatsApp which i did and they have messaged me saying they have sent the money and I just have to reply to the  email with a tracking number and i will get the money.  The more angry they are getting, the more certain I am that they are trying to scam me, can anyone please help. The amount in question is over £600, so i cant them anything until I know this isn't a scam.

Any tips or advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks! 

[kernowlass]

@toriwillow 

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.

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.