Stolen Phone on Craigslist?

call the police and get -their- advice. but with their help or not, i think you will have to 'buy the phone'.

phones are assigned serial number/a particular number, i believe. it would be in the battery compartment, but this can also be pulled up on a particular screen.

do you have that number?? can you get it from your provider??

first you would need to file a police report. make sure you put Every detail about the phone as this will be very pertinent if they help or not. (and of course the serial number if you have it)

if the police won't send a plainsclothes person, or even if they do, you may have to be there to identify the phone, and this is where a prior extremely detailed police report comes in. you would need to make reference to all that information as you 'put the phone through its steps'.

but once you've got the phone in your hand, you may be able to pull up that serial number and that should be the end of it. police there or not, i wouldn't make it the first screen i went to. you want to do it in a way that hopefully doesn't make them skittish.

but i would be making an audio of all that was going on, as well. as i went through the apps and different screens, i would make particular reference to the ones that are my son's, discreetly--'oh. i really like that wallpaper. it has ... and ... . that is so neat. did you do that? and wow. i'm really liking this too. how would you describe this??

you want to get as much confirmation from the seller as possible. and of course a video recording would be so much better. do you have a dash cam? you could have it hidden under some papers on the dash. it may be a little tricky getting them to the front of your vehicle. but it could be to one side, or if you're willing (and so are they), in the vehicle. (you will be meeting at a very public place)

of course, at some point you would want to get the make and model of their vehicle, and most importantly, that tag number.

all this may take some 'finagling', but i've done it. on one occasion, i told the person i was meeting to give me about a minute while i placed a phone call describing where i was, who i was meeting, ... in case i disappeared. (: i was laughing while i said it, and while i made the prearranged call that recorded to my cousin's answering machine (i 'do' craigslist a LOT). and the person had no problem with that. even commented that that wasn't a bad idea.

at any rate, you get the idea.

if the police won't help, you still want to have made that police report, and personally, i would have someone in another vehicle sitting close enough where they can see everything, but far enough away as not to be noticeable. they could be 'talking on their cell'. or maybe 'texting'. or possibly they could occasionally look toward the building as if they're waiting on someone.

i think that about covers it.

me? i would go after my phone. and if it was my phone, there was no help from the police, i KNEW WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT, this was my phone, i'd take it. (i would have my hidden 'back-up' still in the other vehicle.)

i would ask them where they got it, did they know it was stolen, and were they planning on letting me have it back. (HAVE A COPY OF THAT POLICE REPORT TO SHOW THEM)

but something like that could prove dangerous--SO I DEFINITELY DON'T RECOMMEND THAT LAST PART.

**I** would slowly back away with the phone. **I** would tell them that it wouldn't bother me if they called the police, that i would prefer it.

this would be rather STUPID, especially since this person may come across you again.

but i have had my car stolen, my house broken into, so many things stolen out of my yard so many times, the most costly my outside ac--i am so angry--not just for myself. no. no. i'm also angry for other hard-working, i don't steal, i'm barely making ends meet people like myself.

**I** am angry enough to do just that.

ADDED--

all this depends on the personality/attitude of the seller, and if they are alone.

if you're meeting a 'first class thug' and you have no police help, i would still try to get that same evidence for 'safekeeping', keep my lips together regarding the ownership of the phone, smile, just buy the phone...,

and take my two little hips home.

buy it back. On Craigslist, do you use credit card? if so, use credit card to pay and then cancel when you get the phone back. You should be able to prove that it is your son's phone when you get it, which means that selling stolen property is illegal.