I thought for sure this was going to be about cryptoland again.

I thought this would be about Próspera (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pr%C3%B3spera)

Prospera seems real. Am I missing something?

All these places are "real" in that you can visit the physical place that they are supposed to exist in. However, they're also all described as wonderful utopias by the people selling them and turn out to be much less complete/pleasant than claimed. Such dreamlands are always based on lies and exploitation.

Scams occurred before cryptocurrency

My favorite con from the 19th century is the Spanish Prisoner which is now a staple of the modern Nigerian 419 scams:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Prisoner

https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes...