probably, or if they aren’t directly criminals they’re probably facilitating criminals. but if you were very particular about it you could in theory set up in a country which doesn’t have treaties with any of the countries in which the victims operate.
So your logic is: condemning people for criminal behavior is not useful because it de-incentivizes their victims from being vigilant against that criminal behavior. Am I getting that right?
No. My logic is that when it comes to computers, it's a battle of the brains: who is smarter than the other one. And the result is usually a novel way of attacking someone, and then finding novel ways to defend and on and on. So that's why I strongly believe in hiring smarter people to defend your castle, rather than swatting people smarter than you because you're not as smart as the other side.
I know people who can't relocate because of communication issues and/or cultural differences.
No they aren't criminals, but they are definitely underpaid compared to those who managed to relocate.