These people weren't scammed, they were defrauded. They were promised one thing and delivered another. The event organisers simply lied so as to inflate the price they could charge for a thing that was worth dramatically less (arguably nothing). The extent of that gap constitutes a form of theft, and the organisers should be charged accordingly.

The people who bought tickets weren't gullible or stupid, any more than you would be buying a ticket to a festival with your favourite bands only to rock up and find there are no bands. #fyrefestival

I'm going to strongly question your presumption that present populations are more scammable than those past.

How is it different from other eras? Take for example all the different prophets who had literally millions of people scammed since the dawn of history.

What is the answer, then?