Except the harm here is quite obvious - he offered money for the recovery, so they staged recoveries. If they did it because they thought it would help him they should have refused reimbursement. Instead, not only did they damage his reputation, they defrauded him out of money in doing so.

> To be quite frank, when I watched the video, I never understood why one guy had a crucifix hanging from his rearview mirror,

I'm not sure what this means. Are you implying that you think someone with a crucifix hanging from their mirror wouldn't commit this crime?

> and why the faces were obscured.

Because you're better safe than sorry. For example, if the friends of the acquaintance weren't told what was really going on, it could have been devastating to their reputation if their face was released nationally and linked to a crime. That can spur lawsuits. Meritorious or not, they cost to defend against.