[noelchurchill]

I think part of the problem is that people have been sold on the idea that Macs are safe and "there aren't any viruses for the Mac." There is this ill conceived notion that naive users hold that they aren't at risk so they'll more more inclined to install malware without thinking about or understanding the consequences.

[podperson]

Only someone who believes there are viruses for the Mac are going to fall for this scam, since it's "free antivirus software".

From TFA:

EB: So customers who get hit by this are installing it and giving their admin password?

AC: Yes.

[pygy_]

There are a lot of programs that require the admin password in order to be installed, for them to be installed system-wide... Usually, a single user install would be enough, but they don't provide the option (or I couldn't find it).

As a consequence, users are trained to give their password to random apps, and they end up not paying attention anymore to which app they give it to.