Let’s discuss… 

Paraphrasing the content of the video by JessMUA:

It’s simple right!? People lie, manipulate and scam because they want something; money, attention, status, control, or the feeling of being more important than they actually are.

Obviously lying is one of the easiest ways they think they can get what they want.

However, sometimes people lie out of self protection. They're trying to avoid consequences. They don't want to get caught, lose their job, face legal trouble, or admit they did something wrong. They don't want to face the reality of who they are, so they create a story where they're successful, powerful, smarter than everyone else, or somehow the victim.

And when that person realises they can profit from their stories, that’s when they start scamming people, the manipulation can become very calculated.

There's actually a concept in fraud called the  
Fraud Triangle; pressure, opportunity, and rationalisation.

Pressure: There's a need or desire.  
Opportunity: They see a way out.  
Rationalisation: They convince themselves that what they're doing is justified.

People who commit fraud don't necessarily wake up one day thinking, “Hello world, today I'm going to be a scammer." That’s just not how that works. They have to have a need, opportunity and then have to find a way to justify their actions.   
They find a way to make themselves the hero of their own story.

The first thing they do is build trust. 

Scammers know that people are more likely to give money, information, or access to someone they trust.  
So they may pretend to be your friend.  
They may tell you exactly what you want to hear.  
This is called the Love Bombing stage. We see this in cults as well as individual scammers or other groups and organisations that use Love Bombing to gain the trust of the people who will turn out to be their victims. 

They study what motivates their potential victims, their ‘marks’ or they figure out what they’re afraid off. They use any information they gather about their marks against their marks. Blackmail is not something they shy away from. 

In a lot of cases money isn't even the only reward. It’s the control, the attention, the status, knowing they were able to convince someone to believe them. 

Why do people lie, manipulate and scam other people?