Guy's Behavior

Why would a guy lie about having a girlfriend?

So I have this online guy friend whom I've been talking to for 5 months now and never met in real life. Our conversations for the most part were random and friendly sharing food photos and activities here and there. Nothing too personal or flirty or at least when I try to be flirtatious he wouldn't take it further. In the beginning we used to exchange selfies. He would comment on how beautiful I was and how he loved my cute dimples. He even gave me dimples as a nickname. He seemed excited that I had no boyfriend too.

He would initiate nearly every conversation. In the beginning he would call and text me everyday, then once every week, and now he only texts me everyday. (Except on holidays where he would go MIA). This seemed sketchy but I still played along just to be friendly.

He did drop a subtle hint and sent a photo with a shirt of a relationship status as taken but never really told me directly that he had a girlfriend. So I asked him again if he had a girlfriend and he flat out said no and if he did have a girlfriend he would probably stop talking to me. He also mentioned he probably wouldn't cheat because she would kill him (I thought he was talking about his future gf)!

Later, I finally found him on Facebook only to find out HE ALREADY HAS A GIRLFRIEND OF 7 YEARS! I repeat, 7 fricken years!! So my question is why would a guy feel the need to lie about having a girlfriend?
Why would a guy lie about having a girlfriend?
Post Opinion