I bought the game in 2013, refunded it in 2017. When i bought the game was because i wanted a spacesim and star citizen was basically my perfect game. I expected the game to be out by late 2016 or 2017, at least the singleplayer story.
Even now, i am still hopeful. I refunded because at that point they didnt need my money and it was ridiculous how the game was still nowhere near release. Also the game run like shit and the fun factor was too low, it was too much of a simulator.
I dont think it is a complete scam. It is obvious there has been an insane amount of effort gone into this game. Maybe part of the funds have been abused but they have been developing this game for over 10 years with 500+ devs and that is really expensive.