Brian Hill wrote:

I agree Ron. It's called fishing and it's brought on by greed.

Oh, don't be such a cynic.
It's often rooted in timidity, embarrassment,
the fear of admitting ignorance,
fear if offending friends, fear of appearing
greedy or foolish or any number
of innocuous reasons. An important maxim to remember:

Do not be quick to attribute to malice,
that which is more easily explained by ignorance.