Hidden city pricing is perfectly logical and it's based on supply-and-demand. If tickets were priced based on the flying mile, this would be a non-issue. But, they aren't and that's a good thing.
As we've seen lately, the scammers eventually get caught. Or, their bags wind up somewhere they don't want them to be. Or, in IRROPS, they wind up having to buy a one-way walkup ticket to actually get to the place they're going.
It all comes down to the fact that you might be able to beat the rules once, maybe even twice. But, stuff catches up.