It’s not the legal status (fraud is already illegal), it’s proving that it is indeed a scam rather than some dumb shit they actually believed, as well as knowing that it’s more likely to trigger a persecution complex and doubling down than improve the lives of the victims (because if it’s a plot to harm their religion, they don’t have to feel like idiots for giving the scammer money).
It’s a different story if the religious scammer openly admits that it was always a scam and just doesn’t care what anyone thought of it. Easier to prove and the victims are already angry and feeling like idiots for falling for it.
It’s not the legal status (fraud is already illegal), it’s proving that it is indeed a scam rather than some dumb shit they actually believed, as well as knowing that it’s more likely to trigger a persecution complex and doubling down than improve the lives of the victims (because if it’s a plot to harm their religion, they don’t have to feel like idiots for giving the scammer money).
It’s a different story if the religious scammer openly admits that it was always a scam and just doesn’t care what anyone thought of it. Easier to prove and the victims are already angry and feeling like idiots for falling for it.