~snip
We are only humans after all. It's not like that I will never get scammed. But staying safe from it is common sense. Be cautious about everything. Even the close people to us sometimes try to scam us for their advantage. Double-checking is a must for everything especially when we are dealing with anything on the internet.
I agree with the fact that people who get scammed are the ones who lack knowledge about it. Gaining knowledge should be the first priority before doing anything. Not only just knowledge but proper knowledge. I don't even trust myself, and these people are trusting strangers whom they met on the internet. The internet has made our lives simple and complicated at the same time. If we are not careful about using it, then the latter one is for us.
You know, I kind of relate to what you said about even people close to us being the scammers.
In the case of ponzi schemes, those take advantage of the reputation of others, so uninformed people will end up recruiting more victims into the trap.
I have myself dealt with people I have met face to face who have presented to me some way to make some money, passive income, and it did not take me 2 minutes before realizing it was a ponzi. The only difference between I and another possible victim is the awareness I have on scams.
If you have friends who like to gamble or are getting into the world of cryptocurrency, talk to them, about the most common strategies of scammers.