redbottle

He asked for a 50% deposit, which I stupidly gave. We set up a time and place, and he said he would get back to me. Then he blocked me.
 
 

I asked for one and he sent me a pic -- who knows if it was really him -- via expiring message on Whatsapp
 
 

Yeah, I posted him here. 

I did it as a "friends and family" transfer. Do you know what I would say to them? I could say he scammed me, but do I have to give them any details?

He asked for a 50% deposit, which I stupidly gave. We set up a time and place, and he said he would get back to me. Then he blocked me.
 
 

A "friends and family" transfer of money is not protected by PayPal's fraud protection program.  Just accept that you made a mistake and lost whatever money you sent this guy.  You can notify PayPal that you got scammed, but I assume that someone who is using that platform to scam people like this will just create a different account if they get reported so I'm not sure it's worth the effort.  Also, do you want to be in a position of having to explain how a "friend or family member" stole money from you when it really was a stranger whom you were hoping to have sex with?  I wouldn't.  As to warning people here, that's helpful to others in the short term, but it's so easy for scammers to change identities online that it's not worth a lot in the long run.

Unfortunately, there really isn't much you can do except warn others. I don't oppose making a reasonable deposit ($25-$50) to show I'm serious. In all the time I've been doing this, I've only had one guy screw me over. Posting who the guy who scammed you would be helpful to others. 

this would be something you should contact PayPal about.