To make a long and stupid story short, I met a guy on Craigslist who said all the right things. We had plans to meet a few times (once I bought a train ticket to visit him; another time I prepared an expensive meal), but he always canceled at the last minute. He had an excuse—an anxiety problem. After a few months, I called him on it. He admitted that he enjoyed the thrill of toying with people and was only interested in the chase.
Fast-forward to a few months later: I find out that he has been doing this to several people, working as a team with two friends. They trade notes on the people they mess with. There’s no financial gain for him, and no sexual one either, because he never meets or screws any of the girls he manipulates. He calls it “internet...