by the time people believe he is evil, it will be too late.
Of course! Otherwise he wouldn’t be able to pull it off. Many will be deceived (just like now). Interestingly, it will be a world crisis that ushers in the antichrist. It could happen now but I personally think things will be worse than they currently are for that to happen.
The Anti-Christ CANNOT gain a huge following, without a message of peace, love and common good. The name itself is what he will be, someone pretending to be the second coming, or in the case of the Jews and Muslims, the first.