I got scammed on Craigslist, what can I do?

Yesterday, I was trying to sell my old iPhone 5S on craigslist. A young kid contacted me via iMessage and we planned to meet last night at his apartment complex. He examined the phone, and said he needed to put his sim card in the phone to confirm it works. I understood but I couldn't find a sim ejection tool anywhere in my car so before I could even react he was walking towards his apartment to go "get a tool" and he had my phone in his hand. To re-assure me, he told me which apartment he lived in and that he still had to ask his mom for permission to spend his money. I immediately didn't feel comfortable and knew this was going to be bad. He texted me while inside his apartment saying it would only be 5 minutes. 30 minutes went by, so I knocked on the front door of his "apartment." Let's just say the family that opened the door to the apartment I thought was his, wasn't even remotely closely related to this kid. So, I ended up leaving. I had things to do. This kid was gone and he hasn't responded to any of my texts. And he has my $300 phone. Is there anything I can do? I'm not hoping to get the phone back, I know that's probably not going to happen, but is there anyway I can get the kid back? Makes me mad that such a young kid is doing this kind of stuff. Any help is appreciated.

Good grief… Letting someone you don't know walk off with your property? Well, lesson learned!

You can call the police and report it as a theft.

You can also stake out the apartment building with a buddy and a couple baseball bats and see if he shows up.

Call the cops they have a cyber crime unit they ll check see ip he sent the messages and they find him.

Call the police. He stole your phone, but it's probably long gone. I'm sure he doesn't even live in that building.

Cops. Get any evidence from the CCTV camera at any location you were together… Or you can do a manhunt by searching for him yourself

Report the phone as stolen to your carrier. They can make it so that the phone is unable to be used. Make a report to the police.

Next time you plan on selling things thru craigslist. Agree to meet in a public place. When dealing with cell phones, the best place to meet is at an authorized dealer. The dealer can make sure the phone will work for the buyer.

File the police complaint or file the lawsuit against Craigslist and never sell your things on Craigslist

Report the theft to the police.