Well that's his exact reasoning and I have seen people use people's trust score in arguments before before as an off topic ad hominem attack just to dismiss what someone is saying, so it can and does influence how some people perceive others even though it might have nothing to do with the topic at hand.
I don't think that's exactly what you mean, but that's what happens to me on the Scam Accusation board. I see a member with his profile painted red saying he's been scammed and in principle I'm more sceptical than if he had a dozen green ones, as I think is normal. A case in point would be
this.