OK, I agree that something fishy is going on with these users, and my guess is that Jraf95 is buying merits somewhere other than bitcointalk.  I've heard rumors of merits being traded on Telegram, though I've never used that service myself and don't know about this personally. 

Cherylstar86 definitely sent him merit for what's basically a shitpost, and I don't think any of these shitposters value their sMerits that low. 

They all know how valuable merits are and aren't going to give even 1 merit to a total stranger for a shitpost.  They're either going to send merits to alts, friends, relatives, or to a buyer.  I have no doubt on this one.