fyi, shill bidding is a felony in the United states, so there again, whether or not it was a real scam is subject to conjecture/opinion.
sources: My uncle runs an auction house in Little Rock, Arkansas.
It's also a felony to resist the government's violent thugs, and the US is fine with bombing innocent people, so I don't put much stock in the US's view on ethics.
Shall we nitpick your country and the way they handle shit? I was going to mention that this comment shows zero leadership qualities. Then I remembered you just own and run this fourm. Not that I agree with everything my country does in it's shadowbox king maker realm. This was still an unneeded stab