I was sold an iPhone 5 which unbeknownst to me was stolen?

I just bought an iPhone 5 from craiglist to this guy who made up a story about how he was upgrading to the 5S and didn't need the iPhone 5 anymore. I actually believed it was HIS phone(it did bring the box with charger and headphones so it was believable) I paid $400 for it. Once that, I when to Redpocket to try to activate the phone with their nano sim and while trying to activate it they came across the iCloud Activation Lock page which had a message from the REAL owner saying "This is a lost phone. Please call me 786-245-453"

As soon as I saw that message I right away came to a realization that I had been scammed. The guy sold me a stolen iCloud locked iPhone 5. The contacted the guy several times, but he did not pick up the phone. My only option left was to call the owner and negotiate with her… I understand that most of you might say "Just give it her phone back!" but that's UNREALISTIC, I would love to do that, but what is in it for me? I'm also a victim, just like her.am I suppose to be the nice guy and lose $400? So I actually negotiated with her.

We talked for hours about different things, we compared notes about the guy who stole her phone/sold me the phone to see what we could have done about it and so on… Then we came to a consensus that for $200 she would let me keep her iPhone 5. She wants to met at an Apple store so that they make sure all her memory is wiped out, etc. Do you think there's a chance she could trick me and try to keep the phone without me getting anything in return? I talked to her for hours and she seems extremely trustworthy, she has a new iPhone 5S so there's no need for her to want the phone anyways… What should I do?

Any ideas on what other deals I can make with her? Should I meet her somewhere else? Why does she wanna meet at the APPLE STORE out of all places.

First this is such a sad story I've heard from a bunch of people who have accidentally bought stolen phones so I'm sorry. Second the apple store is a really good place to meet she can unlock the phone and have then wipe it clean plus maybe it's the added security there since every apple store is LOADED with security cameras. I believe 200$ Is a good price but being in it 600$ dollars sucks overall maybe get her to take it down some in price and resell it yourself or just don't buy it and go buy a brand new phone if you can but if you do stick with the 200$ deal consider what it looks like and how you're going to afford putting it on a plan If it isn't unlocked or if it is unlocked how you'll afford the prepaid service each month either way you're in a hole, sorry

I would file a police report. I would also notify the person that you are going to file a police report if they don't return your money.

On Craigslist I wouldn't ever buy a phone without them wiping it in front of you (which requires the ID and password, proving that they are the owner). Once wiped then you can setup your own ID on it. Thats how you have them prove it is theirs.