It may be an attempt - but one does not have to play along -one can thwart their efforts. I, for example, take classes, consult with people at my university, read their articles and texbooks etc.
I see it as a sort of game - fencing match or adversarial proceeding (once the woman wrote me that she was not the enemy - but of course I did not fall for that and pointed out to her ways in which she was - she could not refute my findings). Sometimes I still walk into the trap, but not often now. And I quit a lot at the beginning - every couple of weeks and now I take frequent breaks- that usually made me feel better and gave me time to regroup and go back armed with more knowledge. Plus the woman walks into my traps/completely misreads me and then flounders badly when I tell her how wrong she is- always a happy day when that occurs. Then she gets all pissy and defensive and sort of licks herself like a cat who misses the ledge they were aiming for. It helps that I gave up the idea the woman was going to be useful in both the way she described and in for the reason I started.
I feel I also defeat them by not using them the way they wish to be used. I use them for my own devices and usually don't let the first one talk at all.
Skepticism can be useful.