Bullshit. These aren't Indian peasants. They are people with very good English skills, and at least the technical acumen to know how to use computers, and obviously some level of sales ability. There are lots of jobs in tech available for people with these skills. I'm not saying they're super high status jobs or people will get rich, but they are still able to live much better than tons of lower class people in India.
People choose to scam simply because they believe they can make more money doing so. There is also more of a "gambling" aspect to it, in that the vast majority of scammers probably make peanuts at an hourly rate, but every now and then there is a guy that will make multiple years worth of salary in a day.
