So was what I said. I was presenting a hypothetical way they justify their ridiculous claims by doing something else ridiculous.

But conveying tone in text is difficult, so I’m not surprised you missed what I was going for.

To be fair. We assume “months” means less than 2 years. But 10 years can also be “months”, and is probably a more realistic timeline.

The reason is that it takes a lot of emotional intelligence and strength to admit that you have been scammed. These people will find it less emotionally painful to deny reality then admit their mistakes.