Still, the actions described here are not a scam. ITS perfectly fine according to Mindarks rules of space. And thats the disturbing bit.
These players provide the service they promise. The scam is how Mindark designed space.
Now that I think of it, no the actions described are not a scam.
The lack of information prevents it from being a fraudulent offer.
Although the deception which causes an interruption of players' entertainment is where is does break the rules.
MindArk, from what I have gathered, developed Space to be a separator for planets and decided that an element of risk was necessary to balance out the distribution of items, like how Mineral X is much more prevalent on Planet A than Planet B.
So, getting down to technicalities (which you started to do here), there is no scam at all and the people in the wrong are these 2 players offering a service, while legitimate serving what is offered, is detrimental to other players' entertainment, causing violation(s) in the ToU.
The rules of Space itself, those are simple. You can enter space and are at the risk of being killed and be looted. Even comes with a warning. Nearly every other rule in the area designated Space is the same as anywhere else.
So, contrary to your claim, the rules aren't a scam and nor is the design.
I fully agree with you on everything else though.