> Usually when people do this, they don't care that anyone with a half a brain knows they are lying, because they focus their attention ripping off people who d

> Usually when people do this, they don't care that anyone with a half a brain knows they are lying, because they focus their attention ripping off people who don't have half a brain. Indeed. The scammer doesn't care if most people disbelieve, they only need a few (their victims) to believe very strongly. The goals of being generally believable and very convincing to a few can even be mutually exclusive. Especially when things like defamation litigation threats silences people who know he's lying, or at least keep them easily dismissed (e.g. posting anonymously).