For whatever reason my parents bought a 2020 iPhone SE, put it in a drawer and forgot it. They gave it to me to sell on eBay, now the buyer is telling me he’s been AT&T and the Apple Store and the phone has been reported stolen and will not work. How is that possible if as far as I know the phone hasn’t been turned on since leaving the store and has never had an Apple ID logged onto it and how can I turn this off the seller can use the phone?
Possibly the buyer may be hoping to return their stolen phone to you, while keeping the phone you sent to them?
But also - did your parents pay for the phone in full when they got it from the AT&T store? Or if this was a subsidized/financed phone, did your parents finish the remaining payments and any plan commitment?