I don't see ETH becoming a scam due to increased centralization, rather it will become more controlled and subject to regulators. This would result in the end user having their coins censored and blocked at any time for political or other reasons. This is definitely not good for cryptocurrencies in terms of their fundamental properties. For speculators and traders it will not turn into anything, they don't care what they trade with, no matter if it is centralized or decentralized coin. The main thing is to have volatility.
Should ordinary users be afraid of blocked coins? Will the developers bother to search for people who have, say, 0.5 ether coins? Is there some reasonable value between the search costs and the amount of coins on the wallet?
In cryptocurrency, you need to take into account all the risks and be prepared for certain consequences. Let's be honest, many people, when faced with some stories of blocking and scams, think that this will definitely not happen to them and they will be smarter and more cunning in such situations. Can this behavior be considered self-deception or complacency, when you can't know for sure whose coins might be blocked next time? It is impossible to be 100% prepared for this, as we don't know the whole methodology of blocking, but you should always be ready for it. These are cryptocurrencies, anything can happen here and to anyone.