If I invest in a popular project does that make my money safe from scams or popular projects can turn to scam as well?
No guarantee in crypto investment. Although it is a popular project, it is possible to turn into a scam. That's why don't choose a project because of its popularity, but choose the project because of its fundamental factors. If a project has strong fundamentals, the chance for scams will be rather small. Moreover, if they have a trusted team, have good products, have a top company as the partnership, and list their tokens on top exchanges.