I can't believe it is a scam.I originally wanted to join this project.I didn't do this later.It seems that I have a correct decision.
ETCV fork was fishy and suspicious from first time when it launches because a lot of responsible forum members starting research and they asking about ETCV team. Actually which people working behind the scene because team development was hidden.
There were tons of negative news about them pretty quickly after they wanted to launch their fork and as you said well known members also raised concerns.