Hey Ernest,

I am so sorry to hear that this happened to you! Unfortunately, it's really common with Craigslist, and if you're not buying locally, there isn't much to do.

When I was listing big ticket items on CL, (like a wide-screen tv for $1000) I would get people from all over the world saying that they would send me money orders and I just needed to ship them the product. Usually what happens in this case is that the seller ships the product only to learn later that the money order is a fraud.

Looks like you got the reverse scam. Unfortunately, since you sent a money order, instead of a check or using paypal/credit card, it's going to be really hard to track that person down. Sometimes just by googling a person's email address you might get other information about them: forums they've posted in, or other contact information. You *might* be able to get their real name from their ISP, (whoever their email is through) but it would take a really long time, and chances are, he might have used a fake name when signing up for an account, (like hotmail or yahoo)

If you have his phone number, you could do a reverse phone look-up, or google it to try and get an address, but if he isn't near you, and you're not willing to fly out there and confront him, (or his PO box) it might be a lost cause.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but think of it as a hard lesson learned, and that it wasn't for the full amount.

And...ALWAYS DEAL LOCALLY when purchasing large ticket items on Craigslist. Always.

Edit: noticed you have a bank account number...figure out the routing number of the bank (the first group of digits) and you can contact them. It might be a fake or closed account, but it never hurts to try!