Interesting that's a very good point it's true people might be thinking may be Satoshi will send them something back.
But people indeed have been sending bitcoins to this address like a wishing well.
It's been discussed on bitcointalk since 2012 or may be even earlier.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=70553.0Thanks for the interesting information, it seems that the whole thing already has a historical context and we could call it
Satoshi digital fountain of luck⛲ The need for people to be connected to the creator in some way is stronger even than the potential profits that some have obviously sacrificed - although in 2012 there were very few people who could even imagine how much the price of BTC would increase in the future.
My idea is actually based on the fact that some believe that Satoshi will one day show up and share his BTC, and some certainly believe that this way is good for drawing attention to them. However, from everything written here, it can be concluded that one day someone could still discover a way to get possession of these coins - and then no one will be able to claim that he is Satoshi, because most people who participated in the development of BTC will likely to be dead by then.