As scams go, it preyed upon previous goodwill from looking like it was doing good work. Zencloud (mining owned by GAW) looked legit from the outside and people were making money slowly but surely from mining there. Everything was working as it said it would, so when the reliable-seeming GAW was making a coin of it's own and then started pumping hype in a lot of publications, naturally people got excited and wanted on board.

Can you blame people for wanting to jump on board what sounds like a good deal from a company that had not previously ripped you off? After all, people keep going to Walmart because they are "happy" with that they bought and don't care/believe that the company itself is a little shady even though Walmart has been known to sell counterfeit goods, abuse welfare while dodging taxes, and treat their workers badly.  How could a company that has made them happy and is respected by their friends/family be bad? Same principal with GAW.

It's just a case of people choosing money over ethics (on both sides!) or just plain not knowing/believing GAW had any shadiness because GAW had been good to them. In short, humanity isn't that dumb, however, it is selfish and tends to trust those who have been good to them over strangers. It's sad that common human survival instincts are a scammer's best friend.