Well I am not saying he IS a scammer but Pirate for example provided "updates" for weeks before running away with the funds.  It is a psychological trick used to let someone down slowly.  At day 0 of the scam so many people are active and highly pissed off all it takes is one to track you down and feed you a brick to ruin your day.   But as the weeks role by as the victims hold out hope slowly they get use to the idea they have lost their funds and move on.