To cherylalbanese et al - I too was targeted by "Mitch Davidson" from Ft. Wayne, IN who luckily closed me on eharmony side few days after his supposed 2 week trip to western Africa to attend to his supposed Catholic charity work he claimed to be president of. He chose Fast Track right off the bat (had another one earlier do this too that I closed via eHarmony after few exchanges - another story that I now suspect was also a scam) and provided same outside email address you previously listed. We exchanged emails for 4-5 days and, yes, he was quite charming and really had me dizzy thinking of the possibilities. His story was virtually the same as you said. I found it odd that his grammer was a mix of British English (which I dismissed since he'd said he'd been raised in Europe) and chat room lingo which didn't match what I would presume someone with an engineering degree to communicate like. In my last email to him I questioned was he real or not and did he really do what he said he did? I told him about recent conversation with some new friends warning me of this "Nigerian something" scam but yet I thought he seemed authentic and I wrote off my paranoia to lack of sleep on my part. Because he'd said he was preparing for a 2 week trip I waited patiently for 2 weeks and shortly after that he closed me on the eHarmony side to "other" and emails stopped. At the time I felt quite dejected and took it personally even though I did also wonder had I hit close to home with my suspicions to him. Yesterday I received email from eHarmony telling me they had removed him from their service, although today he is still showing under my closed matches. They wanted me to know they cared about my safety and that they held no responsibility for any further consequences I might encounter and they couldn't provide the details. I agree that it seems like background checking could possibly be more thorough on their part especially since we've paid them good money to use their site. I feel like such an idiot I fell for it, despite knowing these things happen in the world. I'm just grateful it was nipped in the bud and that I've found this site (and others) and am doubtful I will continue use of online dating sites. I'm sorry too for everyone else who lost money and have suffered broken hearts because of this scam.
Excerpts from emails from "Mitch" - new nickname of "My Man Mitch" (governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana's campaign pitch):
"i was married for 17yrs and divorced for 6yrs now and since then i've not dated,though i've met several women but none was a good match.it's true many women has been seducing me 'cos they see i'm handsome but thats not the issue,i just haven't found the right person.i pray that God guides me towards finding the real woman.
I was actually born in Fort Wayne,IN, but grew up in Europe and yes i live in Fort Wayne presently,wanna come over? be my guest
, My parents are late(dead)now."
"I'm a self employed Civil engineer and a general contractor,i specialise in designing,building,and construction of roads and bridges.thats what my work is all about and it mainly inlvoves travelling.As might have read in my profile i've travelled extensively to Europe and Asia for work." (I found it odd that this description of his job was repeated in multiple emails vs. a normal person might provide more details of specific projects and a little about their work history, education, etc....oh but my loneliness made me lower my guard and ignore it)
"We named the organisiation "immaculate heart foundation",it has always been my character to help people 'cos i've this very big heart and i try to share it with the people around me,so one day i thought of using my big heart gift to impact on other people's life especially the sick and the orphanage." (I attempted to research online under the Ft. Wayne Catholic website and this wasn't listed and all other references to 'immaculate heart' included a St.'s name at the end - I'm not Catholic so I didn't really realize the idiocy of it until now.)
"I've a little daughter that lives with my Ex in Missouri,she is 9yrs and she is my one and only child but though i wish i had more kids,i love children alot...well if you don't mind i could share my daughter with you since you ain't got kids,how about that? she is cute and smart,i don't get to see her often 'cos of the distance except on holidays but i'm actually working on gaining total custody of her soon.i'll look for her picture to send to you if like?" (ain't????? 'cos - doesn't sound like an educated person to me)