Mining Pi Network on smartphone when you turn off your phone is still possible. I can not step in shoes of people who believe in that technology used for Pi Network. It is unrealistic if we are not greedy. Don't need to have deep knowledge too, just not being greedy.
Like you can earn money on your phone when you sleep and your phone is sleep (power is off) too. If I was those people who believed in Pi Network, when I was introduced about that coin like that, I will stop listening.
As obvious as it seems to be, their target market is surely not the educated one. You would never know how easily some digitally illiterate people get deceived by this kind of scam. They are not just greedy but simply did not comprehend the basic scam scheme, traditionally or even digitally, let alone what is cryptocurrency all about.
Surely the one who endorses and preaches this coin can just spout out some technical or financial jargon that makes the other person dazzled. Speaking from my experiences, most people who fall are the ones who mainly lack digital literacy.