That wouldn't have worked in this case, because Jolla had a good reputation. This was a scam, though. They used crowdfunding money to pay themselves, and hoped to find new investors to pay off the old "donators." When they couldn't make payroll, they reached out to the "donators" to encourage them to "donate" for a second or third of the product that they already couldn't afford to deliver. If that's not a scam, there's no such thing. Of course, it's not uncommon behavior for startups - relying on new investors to pay off the old ones...