Tbay Clarifies it Buys Gift Cards and Does Not Sell Them

In Short

Tbay has published a new explainer saying it is a platform for selling gift cards, not buying them. It says scammers are using the “buy gift cards on Tbay” confusion to trick users.

What Happened

Tbay published a post on October 16, 2026 to clarify how its gift card trading app works. The company says Tbay only buys gift cards from users. It does not sell gift cards to anyone.

The post lays out a simple rule. A real Tbay transaction happens inside the official app. Users submit a gift card for sale, and the platform pays them.

Tbay also says its staff will not contact users privately to buy cards. It says there is no “agent” who collects card codes in chats or on social media. If a deal moves outside the app, Tbay says it is not a real transaction.

The company lists common scam patterns it has seen. These include fake employees asking for payment to “sell a card,” and people offering “cheap cards” that can be resold to Tbay for profit. It also flags “task” and part-time job schemes that ask users to buy gift cards with their own money.

Why It Matters

Gift cards are widely used as a store of value in parts of Africa, especially where users want fast digital value that can be converted to cash. That has also made gift card trading a target for fraud.

Tbay’s message is a reminder of a basic safety control, platform-only trading. That means you should only submit cards and complete payouts inside the app, like staying inside a bank app for transfers.

For users, the takeaway is clear. If anyone asks you to pay to buy a gift card “from Tbay,” or to share card codes in a private chat, stop and do not send money. If you use Tbay, the company says the only legitimate flow is selling a card in-app and getting paid by the platform.