If a person wants to achieve a goal, they look for ways to do so, if a person talks about a goal but doesn’t actually want to achieve it, they look for excuses to explain why they won’t be able to do it....
I feel identified. I think I have been in such situations in the past in which I have wanted to do something, but I end up over-thinkinf and explaining myself why I may not be able to get what I want and why it would be logical not to even try.
Such reasoning could also come from people who lost some money to these scammers, they want to get their money back, but at the same time they think of all the obstacles and rocks in the path which may make all the ordeal difficult for them. It is like a mechanism to try to convince themselves to save their own time and energy.
I am not a psychologist, but that is what it feels like, in my opinion.
I can't say for sure whether this issue falls under psychology or something else, but I can say this: it's common to most people. And I'm no exception either

At the very least, I used to take that approach quite often in the past. After certain events, I realized that it's extremely ineffective!
Now I make decisions based purely on risk assessment, not on whether something is "doable or not, difficult or easy". I highly recommend this approach!
Even for the current situation, compare the approaches:
"Looking for reasons why I won’t do it" : immunity, we don’t know who they are, they’re in another country, no one will come looking for them, …
"Risk assessment”: Based on real risks - even if I spend time and effort, I probably won’t get a result.
Doesn’t the truth look different this way?