Some additional info and keywords in case anyone else is searching for this solution.
The return data from paypal is (mostly) in a single string. This will parse it. This code from
<cfset pp_response = cfhttp.filecontent>
<CFSET MSG="RESPMSG=([^&]*)">
<CFSET RESULT_CODE="RESULT=([^&]*)">
<CFSET PNREF="PNREF=([^&]*)">
<CFSET CVV2_CODE="CVV2MATCH=([^&]*)">
<CFSET match_msg=REFindNoCase(MSG,pp_response,1,true)>
<CFSET match_result=REFindNoCase(RESULT_CODE,pp_response,1,true)>
<CFSET match_pnref=REFindNoCase(PNREF,pp_response,1,true)>
<CFSET match_cvv2=REFindNoCase(CVV2_CODE,pp_response,1,true)>
<CFIF match_msg.len[1]>
<CFSET respmsg=mid(pp_response,match_msg.pos[2],match_msg.len[2])>
</CFIF>
<CFIF match_result.len[1]>
<CFSET result=mid(pp_response,match_result.pos[2],match_result.len[2])>
</CFIF>
<CFIF match_pnref.len[1]>
<CFSET PNREF_CODE=mid(pp_response,match_pnref.pos[2],match_pnref.len[2])>
</CFIF>
<CFIF match_cvv2.len[1]>
<CFSET CVV2_MATCH=mid(pp_response,match_cvv2.pos[2],match_cvv2.len[2])>
</CFIF>
coldfusion paypal filecontent respmsg
Cheers,