> If you can't afford actual education

For working people it's not necessarily the cost of a degree, it's the opportunity cost of time out of workforce. Rent/mortgage still needs to be paid.

> settle for a scam?

Yes, boot camps are a "scam" in a sense, but when done right they are a happy one. The service they are providing is legitimacy washing. It is working around credentialism in the hiring process by providing a baseline credential or ticket to participate. A company that wouldn't hire a "self taught programmer" will often be more inclined to give a "boot camp grad" a chance. Really it's the same person, just with 100% more rubber stamp.

It is VERY rare in my experience that you're going to take someone with no aptitude or experience in software development and make them employable in a few weeks or months. This part is oversold. But targeted training on in-demand skills (e.g. the modern JS horror show) can be quite beneficial for people who already have some foundational skills.