I am sure those who do it have no idea of its source, and it could just be a coincidence that it is done by others for the wrong reasons.
I know a very reliable rov who has some strange way of counteracting the ayin horo that seems to clearly have pagan origins. He doesn’t know that because it was handed down to him over the generations, he doesn’t charge for it, and it is in the geder of people believe it works so it does. I would not ask him to do whatever he does for me, but I would not tell anyone who asks me about him to avoid this if he offers it.