Investing in Altcoins is red flag especially for newbies, we all know the huge amount of scams going on even sometimes when you invest in a project with serious goals and clear roadmap, the team disappear instantly after their sales which highlight that ways of scam are evolving every day and comes with a new look so we have to be very careful and skeptical nonetheless I can still name a few new projects that can have a bright future.
I would like to point that making a profit from pump of shitcoins as you mentioned, firstly can only be a pump and dump act and secondly, it misleads newbies into investing without even mentioning that it is illegal and unethical so never forget "If it's too good to be true, it probably is".
And then there are the projects that don't get enough attention because they don't do huge marketing campaigns with tons a FOMO.