well it seems my first instincts were right
my "friend" who asked for money does in fact seem to be fake the reasons being as follows;-
1)On our last conversation he told me he now has a plane and that he was going to fly from canada to london in a 4 seater plane!!
2)When asked how he managed to get his address taken off Google earth he went off line abruptly and i havent heard from him since!!
I know none of you are probably interested but i just thought i would tell you anyway so thanks for all your comments and advice on this matter

He gave you his home address? Did you tell him you were going to look him up on that google earth? If not, maybe he just felt stalked...I would!
Although, it does sound a bit dodgy, someone who owns their own plane shouldn't be needing to ask an online acquaintance for money, no matter the future possibilities between you, i mean shouldnt he have asked his bank for a loan or get cash off his credit card or summat? People with a private jet arent usually that skint, i wouldn't have thought....

Yeh he gave me his home address to prove that he was for real!! ha ha
I did not look it up on google earth until after he asked for money and i became suspicious of him.
Anyway all done and dusted now and i have learnt my lesson!