How can a lie gain so much traction? If someone put some money into a project and that project failed to become the moon-shot they had hoped, the investor might feel cheated out of their money, even though there was no scam in it. It is simply a probable outcome of a risk they knew they were taking. If someone else (like fb) starts yelling scam because they afraid of actually successful competition, this investor is more likely to jump on their bandwagon.