Only I could get into a situation like this

This isn't a property management related story, but it has been quite entertaining for my co-workers and I just had to share.  It is one of those situations that could only happen to me.

Recently, I met a man on a dating website.  I have met several other very nice men on this site.  This one said his name is Mark. He is an engineer and lives close to me. He sent me several pictures and he was a nice looking man.  Not unbelievably handsome, but nice.  He said he was widowed (bonus-he's already trained and doesn't come with all the divorce baggage).  We began communicating with e-mails and he told me he just got a contract job in the UK.  So, before we got a chance to meet, he is out of the country for 6 weeks. 

While we are communicating by e-mail, I began to notice a few odd things about him. While he is very well spoken and quite chatty for a man, he speaks Queen's English instead of American.  He says things like the UK instead of England.  I asked him what is favorite sports team was and he said Manchester United.  For someone from Chicago?  This, among  other things, sounded odd.  I began to get suspicious.  I told my friends that I fully expected him to be stranded in England and not be able to get back without money from me.  No they told me, he sounds great, but just in case, keep your guard up. 

Weeks go by and he continues to e-mail.  He is getting very close to me and even falling in love.  Really?  I haven't even met the man, and I barely told him anything personal about me.  So now I'm really getting suspicious.  After all, I AM lovable, but not THAT lovable.  I shared some of the more interesting e-mails with my friends.  My favorite was the one where I asked him to send me some pictures of the job site. (I thought if he were making it all up, he wouldn't have any pictures.)  The job site pictures looked pretty realistic and I was beginning to think maybe I was wrong about him until I got to the last one.  His pipeline in England has 40 foot palm trees around it!  Now I can really have fun with him.  I responded to every e-mail telling him I couldn't wait until he gets back here and we can finally be together.  His date for this was December 10, so I knew he was going to ask me for something soon.

Finally, last Monday, he instant messages me that he is behind on his project and is having some cash overruns and doesn't have money for a part he needs.  Could I wire him $5000 and he will repay it in 10 days?  I said sure, got all the pertinent information and then called the FBI.  They were very helpful and told me how to file a complaint online.  I did this, but they say they get thousands of these complaints a month. 

I told him it would take a couple of days for me to get the money together, then I e-mailed him dummy tracking numbers for the Western Union Wire I just sent him.  He goes to Western Union in London, and they tell him the money is on hold.  He asks me to release the money.  I made him go back to Western Union 4 times over several days telling him first, there was a glitch with the bank, then everything should be OK, then I don't know why it isn't working.  I even asked him if he thought the money had been stolen and should I contact the FBI or Scotland Yard (that was a suggestion from a lady in the office.  They were all enjoying this). 

Throughout these few days, there are numerous phone calls and e-mails from him desperately trying to reach me to release the money.  I was sharing this story with a friend over lunch one day and she asked why I was even bothering with him.  "Entertainment." I said.  After the third phone call that I didn't answer during lunch, she giggled and said, "You're right.  It is amusing."

Finally, he asked me for a copy of the receipt for the wire transfer.  Of course I couldn't give him that, so I let him stew all day.  Phone calls, e-mails, all unanswered.  Around 10:30 that night, he sent me an e-mail asking for an update.  This was my reply:  "I have decided I'm bored with you.  I'm moving on to someone more interesting."  That prompted several more phone calls and a request for instant messaging which I ignored.  Finally the next day he responded sounding hurt that I was playing games with him.  I did not respond, and he has not bothered me since.  I'm sure he's on to his next victim. 

So, there is a lesson here.  Actually, there are a couple of lessons.  First, if there is no victim, it's fun to mess with people. Second, I don't want to tell people not to be trusting or not to try something new, so the real moral of the story is best summed up with a quote from Ronald Reagan: "Trust, but verify."