> actually help people so from their point of view

Hmm I did not think of that. My rant was mostly about scams where you know it's a lie eg. a fake virus and then you proceed to convince someone they have to pay you money to fix this problem you made up.

But yeah I see your point about the need to make money too in this particular situation(what I'm talking about) it is a fast way to make a lot of money.

Agreed. For various reasons I often interact with (or befriend) people who seem to be into the typical weird beliefs that I know about (anti-vax, 5G, EMF, homeopathy, fluoride-in-the-water) and quite regularly I have the displeasure of being introduced to new ones.

A number of these people made a business out of 'helping' others who believed the same things. Most of the time my impression was that they really did do it from an honest conviction.

It makes sense, of course. If you believe something is true, making a business out of helping others within this belief system is pretty much what many of us do. If anything, it's at the very least more admirable than selling shit you know won't help others. It's just maddeningly misguided.

For example, a couple I met tried to sell some expensive woo-woo device to another friend of mine. Some other friends approached me to pool money so that we could buy this device for her birthday.

I'm convinced these friends meant well, the sellers meant well, and possibly the 'manufacturer' meant well too. It's quite possible that making this custom device was expensive.

I deflected by buying a nice book for her instead, but it was really difficult to keep from criticising. Thankfully, I was pretty sure enough of my other friends wouldn't participate and the gift wouldn't happen, so it was easier to just let things be.