I once saw on TV an evidently intelligent woman, only in early middle age, who’d been completely taken in. After sending the scammer all her savings, she then took out a loan for another large amount, to send him. The bank staff asked her what the loan was for - she told them, and they warned her, but she went ahead anyway.
These vile criminals do seem able to establish an incredibly strong psychological hold over their victims.
Ditto other scammers. An elderly neighbour was scammed out of a huge amount of money after being told that she’d won £1m on a lottery (one she’d never entered.).
They were all so incredibly ‘nice’ to her over the phone!
I learned later that one tactic they use, is to tell their victims not to tell friends or family, ‘since they’ll only be jealous and try to stop you getting the money’. ??