It certainly wasn't my intention to say that there aren't stupid agents,
or greedy agents, or lazy agents, or poorly informed agents, or any
number of other bad types. There are. Usually you hear about bad sales
agents versus buying agents, but there are any number of horror stories
out there.

Actually, smart, diligent, well-informed agents will act just the way I
described. There are, in all markets, an abundance of people who
simply choose not to be thorough in their search process. Some agents
will do a steady business in serving those clients, call them
"tourists". Since referrals aren't the focus of their business, they
are less of a check on their behavior.

Caution is always warranted. Unreasoning paranoia is not.

I agree. Unreasoning? As I just explained, the existence of those
agents is quite rational.