I don't know much about Hashflare, but Genesis Mining is a more nuanced thing. From what I read (independent sources), they actually do have miners running, so they are not dishonest about what they're doing.
Because of the recent rise in Bitcoin and other smart money token values recently, I think people must have actually made some money from it. But overall, I do think buying into Genesis or any other cloud mining service is a losing proposition. Most usually turn out to be ponzis, and even for those that actually are mining, they rely on the inability to project the future to extract money from people who have higher hopes of turning a profit.
Thank you very much for your answer and insight. Take care.