I used to cheat in a big online competitive video game and can relate to this, weirdly enough.

I was able to evade detection for so long no matter how many cheat-detection features they implemented. I am not a genius but I am reasonably bright and I accounted for a lot of things by simply asking "If I wanted to catch a cheater, what would I do?" And then I'd figure out how to evade all those things and then re-ask myself that question from time to time in order to stay a few steps ahead.

A few of my cheating methods went completely unnoticed for several years before anyone bothered to ask certain questions.

I'm no sociopath but I was definitely depressed and bored and really loved the attention of being the focus of everyone's discussion. I'd enter a game and everyone freaked out at my supposed power, everyone knew me, everyone spoke highly of me, etc. IRL I was an unwanted nobody who was down on his luck, but online I had a localized fame, and it was a big rush for me.

I was also friends with certain members of the admin staff and so I'd occasionally catch wind of certain anti-cheat metrics they were implementing. Rarely would they come up with anything I hadn't already accounted for, but the fact that I had that open line was helpful and let me gauge how paranoid and careful I needed to be. Sometimes I'd even recommend some anti-cheat metrics since my "insight" for being such an "expert" with the game meant my opinion would get taken seriously. The metrics I'd recommend would usually lead them away from the general direction I wanted them to pursue so that they'd spend less time looking into the vulnerabilities I had been exploiting.

But at the same time I was really frustrated that no one had caught me. I had planned to simply stop playing and end my career at a high note if anyone got too close, since if they rendered my methods useless then the jig would be up and I'd be unable to perform. But no one ever got close and I grew bored. The thrill of cheating was no longer a thrill and I needed more challenge/stimulation -- so I'd get sloppier, or take bigger risks, and hoped that someone would notice.

Eventually someone did notice and I did get caught. What hurt the most was realizing how much time I had wasted on a stupid game. All my games and records were wiped and it's like all that time I spent never happened. It was a very bitter pill to swallow.