"They arranged to meet, but when she turned up, she found out the sad truth - he was only interested in a 'professional transaction'. The guy turned out to be a male escort."

Jessica Simpson fled the scene as soon as she realized she'd been tricked. "Jessica was horrified and told him to go to hell," says a pal. "She wasn't that desperate."

The blonde singer has publicly admitted she needs a man. "I'm a little sexually frustrated right now," she told US talk show host Jay Leno recently.

"She thought the answer was on the Internet, to be anonymous," a pal reveals. "She doesn't tell guys on the Web she's famous and loaded with money. She comes over as this shy, retiring Texan girl. She quite enjoyed ... the chance to flirt and be herself."

"She never imagined male hookers would be trying to cash in on the service," says an insider. "It's turned her off the Web - and that was her main hobby."