Why online scam artists bother

This is why. 
 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2974083/We-love-95-certain-s-telling-truth-Woman-defends-decision-wire-1-4-MILLION-online-lover-Africa-s-never-met.html
 
You have to feel sorry for this woman, she's obviously extremely lonely and probably suffering from some form of mental illness. But it does illustrate why these online scam artists put the feelers out, even though you and I throw their crap in the trash and laugh at how obvious it all is. I once went on a date with a girl who told me over dinner that her grandmother had wired $300,000 to one of these a-hole scammers in Africa that she'd "befriended" after reading his email. Even when her horrified family told her that he was a con artist, she said she didn't regret sending the money for one second, that he was a lovely young man and that he needed the money more than her. 
 
So there you have it. All these guys need is for ONE idiot to take the bait and they're potentially set up for life. Which is why the scam emails will never stop coming.