I don't think the author was saying don't do anything wrong / unlawful, but rather don't do anything that you feel is wrong if you don't want to. I.e. don't let others pressure you into it, and lie to them to get out of it if that's what you need to do.
I thought the author was sort of trying to push back against our instinct to be interested in problems - which I don't agree with. I'll gladly break the law for an interesting enough problem, I reverse engineer stuff and break copyright law while doing so all the time.
It may be obvious, but plenty of people do it. Whether it's odometer fraud like in the article, or taking up smoking because your friends are doing it, plenty of people are pressured into things they feel they shouldn't do. The author found it difficult to say no, in part because they were family.
I think something which makes such situations difficult, is that the other party, having decided to commit crimes, take drugs, invest in a pyramid scheme, etc. has decided that the risk is acceptable to them (survivor bias probably comes into play here), and it can be difficult for them to empathise with someone who doesn't feel the same way.
