It is impossible to know what the scum think because you are not among them--thus, you cannot know how to act in order to avoid the nightkill.
It IS possible to know how TOWN think.
If a town player sees you as suspicious, they are not going to use a watch/protect on you. If you need said watch/protect because of the scum...well too bad, you were seen as suspicious so no shit you didn't get them.
If a town player sees you as suspicious, they are going to vig you. If you needed to survive because you were a PR...well too bad, you were seen as suspicious so no shit you got fucking shot by them.
If a town player sees you as suspicious, they are going to investigate you. If you wanted their investigation to be on a different target...well too bad, you were seen as suspicious so no shit you were investigated by them.
If the town as a whole sees you as suspicious, they are going to wagon you, and force you to claim. If you don't want to claim...well, too bad, you were seen as suspicious by them so no fucking shit they wagon you to the point you need to.
If the town as a whole sees you as suspicious and EITHER: don't trust your claim OR: don't give you the chance to claim, you get lynched. And if that's not what you wanted...well, too bad, you were seen as suspicious by them so no fucking shit they mislynched you for being a scummy fuck as town.
You don't downplay your capabilities as a town PR. It doesn't end well. Because pretty much the ONLY reason to do so, "To stop scum from killing me",
And, no. That's not a dumb town. That's not on them. If these happen, it is entirely on YOU.