Sad thing is, they are doing it, because it actually works. It's not outrageous to claim, that the vast majority of people around the world are dumb as fuck.

For example, how do people fall for scams via ads on websites?

They know, it cannot be true, because it's too good to be true, but they still click on it, because they want it to be true. Wishful thinking.

Then, they cry about ransomware etc... Many just have to learn it the hard way. ;)