Dime a dozen

I was just watching the Today Show, as I do every morning while I hustle back and forth between my oasis in the kitchen with my coffee, and the chaos that is the living room filled with toys, nick jr songs, and 2 bouncing little boys.

They were doing a story about 3 or 4 women who were all scammed by one man.  He had international relationships with all of them, and tricked them all out of their money.  He told them a lot of sob stories-- his father was sick, his father died.  His son was a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan, his son was injured in war, his son was an amputee... the lies went on and on.

One of the women figured him out and started a blog to warn other potential victims about him.  In no time, they all found each other, and set him up.  They lured him to one of the women's homes, where they all confronted him on video.  He wound up confessing to most of what he had done and is now doing jail time for fraud.

This guy sounds different from my guy, in that, upon confrontation, he confesses.  Not a sociopath.  Just a very skilled liar and scam artist with his goal being to get money from these women.
Still, it never ceases to amaze me how many of these men are out there.  I don't believe that John started out our relationship with the intention of taking everything I had... rather, I think that was a convenience that came from our inevitable relationship.  A crime of opportunity, if you will.
Either way, it is so disheartening to think about it. 

I guess there are women who do this too, only differently.  We call them "gold diggers" and somehow society seems accepting of them, as though they are just another "type" of woman that some men date and marry.  Maybe because they are more out in the open about their desire for money and a certain lifestyle from the start?  As in, "hey, you knew what you were getting yourself into..."?? 

The whole thing just baffles me.  I grew up in a blue collar house.  Every dollar that came in was earned.  That's that.  Nothing confusing about it.  You want something, you work for it.  Where do these people come from that convince themselves that it's ok to take it from others?