I can understand what are they tolding us that article which you are mentioned.
But I don't think it is SCAM. It is manupilative, not decentralized and not good for me too but they are not SCAM! They are working well and they are trying to create a new method based on blockchain.
As far I know, Ripple coin used for banking transaction and i dont think its a scam because Ripple Network used by many banks in the world. Ripple is good coin and have big community with huge daily transaction volume, and i think its about our perspective on Ripple