Tbh patreon doesn't work like that. People don't pay for the game, they pay to support the dev. If they don't like what the dev is doing they can opt out anytime. If a lot of people keep paying is because they still like what dev is doing. Being scammed by an indian phone operator is a total different matter and is basically like being robbed on the street (just with less physical violence involved), people giving money over patreon aren't being robbed. They gives money by their will like many people do each week at church. Are they stupid? I don't think so, they just do what they like, but even if they were i don't think it's my problem. When you pledge these devs on patreon you don't get any long term promise that they broke not delivering updates, it's clearly stated in the website what you will get and it's usually things in the very short term (until next payment). So no, i don't think people are getting scammed, they just have questionable spending behaviors but it's totally a their issue and not something i should care of.