Do you ever feel like some crypto projects, especially DePINs, could be malicious in nature?

Going down a new rabbit hole, Helium, today, enjoying the idea of a decentralized network that I could host and be "that guy" in the area who is an early adopter, etc.

Anyway, I see on the shop all these other devices and hardware for new networks with rewards and whatnot.

Being in IT and also a security/ privacy-oriented person, I worry about could any of these be run by data brokers behind the scenes who're just mass collecting and selling data, and we earn minimal rewards in the form of some unstable crypto. Who's to say these are truly safe or purposeful? Why do we need an automotive network, or dashcam images gathered for "maps", or a DPN (decentralized VPN)? Is that VPN even truly a secure network? What about getting gate from my OBDII sensor pulling data/metrics from my car? That seems like insurance companies are behind that one, idk why else it'd be made/intended for.

The ideas behind so many of these seem like they have amazing potential and good-faith meaning, but the pessimist in me can't help but be paranoid about it too. I'd love to buy in, but it's so easy to setup a website and act like it's got great intentions. How do you guys know, anymore, without just spending hours online, reading deep into each project?