Recently, many Cryptocurrencies have been created and the rapidly changing market landscape, all investments in Cryptocurrency can be high risk. Even Bitcoin which is by far the most stable crypto also shows a fluctuating price.
To avoid losing all your investments due to pump & dump, focus long-term investments on coins that you believe have great potential and show good health. Generally, healthy altcoin has a strong community, shows high liquidity, and has a team of developers who proactively improve the source code of the coin.
I completely agree with your words, if one wants to make profit on this highly volatile market, he will need time and knowledge to succeed. For newbies I would suggest to learn more about altcoins with the PoS consensus algorithm such as NEO, PIVX, Stratis and Deviant.