There are a lot of people on the internet, and every individual on the internet is in a unique situation. Chances are some of them are very likely to be persuaded by a scam which seems obvious to you.

Parent’s story is very believable, even if parent made this particular story up (which I personally don‘t think is the case) this has probably happened to somebody.

Ya maybe I didn't get their tone correctly which is why I was actually serious if they were joking or not.

If they aren't joking, I apologize.