I bought an iPhone that I think was stolen. What should I do?

No excuses, I was stupid and bought an iCloud locked iPhone on ebay not knowing what iCloud locked meant(until after I payed for it) and not suspecting the pretty suspicious sale/seller. When I received the phone I connected it to the net and it came up with the activation screen and it said the iPhone had been lost and the owner's message says "this iPhone has been lost. Please call me. 988-4", but the number cuts off.

What should I do/say to report the seller, contact ebay about the problem and contact paypal? I'd really like to get my money back but I'm aware that I may not. I'd also like to contact the owner of the phone. Any way I can do that?

There should be more people like you. If I were the person who had lost/ gotten the phone stolen, I would buy you one. I don't have an answer though, sorry.

First Step - Contact the police. You have purchased a stolen phone. (not your fault), but the police need to be aware of the situation. Second step - Contact ebay and fill out their dispute paperwork online. File a dispute against the seller. Third step - contact paypal and see if they can give you your money back for unknowingly purchasing a stolen phone.

Thats not "locked", thats stolen and bad esn. Definitely give bad feedback on that person on ebay so others know. What is their ebay history?