It looks like it is not an actual scam, and the coin is probably being deliberately 'unhyped' to keep it's distribution limited to long term investors and the market for which it is planned.

it is positioned to do well when crypto turns up and its only real weakness is that it is on Bittrex.

Money is still being invested in developing it obviously https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeuCoin and long term it is probably a better coin than most. A longterm investor would probably do well to buy some and take it off Bittrex. I own a small fraction of a btc worth and consider it less risky long term than most coins in that market cap range.