Scammers go wherever money is changing hands, and seek to take advantage of the trust of others to benefit themselves.
A message that says "I am interested in your item, kindly text me", an offer greater than your buy it now price, or a request for a gift card is generally the start of a scam where the scammer winds up sending a phony PayPal email that makes it look like the seller has received a payment when none has actually been received.
Sending contact information (text or email) prior to a transaction is a violation of eBay policy; this policy is designed to protect honest buyers and sellers from this sort of thing, and to prevent off-eBay sales.
Never buy a gift card for anyone unless you are giving a gift.
As a seller you should always check your PayPal account directly (not following a link in an email) to see if you have actually been paid prior to shipping. If an actual buyer does not send an actual payment, file an unpaid item dispute and go through that process to get your fees back and to give the "buyer" a strike -- and set your buying requirement to reject bids from users with two or more strikes.
eBay will likely catch up to such a scammer sending such offers and remove the scammer's account, but the scammer will just create a new account or hijack an old one and continue sending scam offers and messages. Sellers must remain wary of any user that wants the seller to violate eBay policy.
You can avoid many common scams by listing your item for a fixed price with immediate payment required and by not accepting any offers. That way the buyer must complete checkout and actually pay in order to proceed.
Scammers like to target new sellers, particularly those selling expensive items. You may want to start out selling less expensive items, or make some purchases yourself. As you gain experience and get more feedback, you will be able to attract a much better crowd of buyers.
