A whole lot of people don’t learn anything from MLM and pyramid scams. A lot of people send money to television and radio evangelists. A lot of people habitually buy lottery tickets. A lot of people are greedy, are un/disinformed or unmathematical/unscientific or not sceptical or something, and are easily persuaded to cast the dice and trust sources that so many educated, experienced smart people accurately understand to be incorrect.

faith + greed + an impulse to gamble = money for the taking