MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- It was the attempt to buy a Toshiba Satellite computer from a man in Murfreesboro who had posted an ad on Craigslist that changed Jeremy Foster's life.

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"I've bought thousands of dollars worth of things from Craigslist," said Foster. "I won't say it was the scaredest (sic) I've ever been in my whole life."

After negotiating from $850 down to $500, Foster said he made arrangements to meet the seller near Craig Court late one night when he got off work. He picked up a friend just to be safe.

He saw the man he's been talking to for days by e-mail and phone approach with a bag. He thought the computer he agreed to buy was in there, but he said that he found out he was wrong.

"He just kept his back to me. I saw this was falling apart really fast," said Foster.

Another man appeared, opened the passenger's door and pulled out a gun. The men took the $500 from Foster and both men's wallets, Foster said.

Foster went to a safe place and called police.

A few weeks later, a McEwen couple answered an ad to buy a digital camera from Craigslist from someone in Murfreesboro about a mile away on North Tennessee Boulevard.

It, too, was a set-up, according to police, and police reports have been filed in both cases.

Police said if you're going to buy something from the Internet and have to meet a stranger to pick it up, do it in a safe place like the parking lot of a police department.

"Criminals use the cover of darkness to commit crimes," said Major Clyde Atkison of Murfreesboro police. "You have to be careful when you are dealing with people on the Internet at great distances."