There are more and more reports about various online dating scams. But most of them are fairly unsophisticated operations. For example the scammer might pretend to be an attractive woman in financial trouble who then asks for an online money transfer from her contacts on various established dating sites.

But sometimes the scheme is elaborate in the extreme. Take the case of Canadian Barrie Turner, who created a series of niche dating sites, along with very detailed fake profiles to bilk lonely people out of large sums of money.

The whole scheme must have taken many, many hours of intricate planning and work. He could easily have made the same amount of money (or more) if he'd put the same amount of effort and expertise into a legitimate operation that genuinely helped people get together. So it seems that it was not merely callous greed that was motivating his actions but cruelty as well.

I think the same can be said of a lot of fraudsters - even those who are not as diabolical as Turner. That's what makes their deceptions not only depressing but disturbing as well.

It would be nice to think that sex and violence were two completely separate drives. But the sad fact is that they are often linked together. The obvious example is in the case of rape. Then there is the fact that so many serial killers are driven by bizarre sexual fantasies as much as by anything else.

Of course the vast majority of people aren't sex criminals. Still, lots of couples do indulge in fantasies that involve violence. Most of the time they don't go any further with them. But sometimes they act them out, which seems to have happened in a crime committed early this year in Melbourne. The alleged perpetrator of a knifing in Fitzroy said that planning the attack on his lover's husband had improved his sex life with the woman.

Financial gain also appears to have been a motive in this case. But it seems the sexual thrill the lovers were getting from their fantasies had a lot to do with the crime ultimately being committed. It's not just love that can make people do crazy and destructive things. Sex can too!

A man called Andrew John Harper, who is originally from Victoria, is wanted for allegedly repeatedly fleecing women from several countries out of large amounts of money.

This isn't the first story of its kind. And it definitely won't be the last, unfortunately. Still, it's one of the more extreme stories of its kind. It's almost incredible that someone would even dream up the elaborate scams that he's accused of, let alone go through with them. But it just goes to show that there really are some totally ruthless people out there. Also, if you want to believe something, then it's not very difficult for someone to make you do so - then take advantage of it.

From the manipulation tactics described in this article - and if he's guilty of what he's accused of - he seems to have very good insights into female psychology. Which is why it's so disturbing and sad that he's allegedly been using them in such a callous way. One can only wonder at what sort of issues are driving this behaviour.

In any case it's yet another reason for women to be careful when meeting men outside of their social circle. If a woman hasn't known someone for a while, and through other contacts, it's difficult to tell what kind of hidden agendas he might have. (It's even difficult to know after years of living with someone in some cases!) That's why women in particular should be cautious and skeptical, remembering that if something sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is!