I will personally answer, it is very difficult to avoid scam investments, especially in new projects that actually have potential. Because currently scammers also have a very clever strategy to trap investors. However, apart from that it doesn't scare me into investing even in a relatively new project because one of the keys to investing is to do it with money that is intended for investment. So, if the money is lost it will not have an impact on our finances.
I agree with you, in investing use the money that is intended for it.
In life there will always be fraud, there are always new ways to do it. We can't eliminate it either, but we can still at least minimize the risk.
What is certain is always to do research before moving on, or maybe learn from people who have experienced it.