I have heard the same story and it is one of the problems of the NFT-market that must be solved in the future. People can just buy their own works from other wallets to add value to their works. Nobody can be sure if all expensive works were bought by a real collector, or by its creator, for example.
This system is unregulated, so we can have only guesses and very few facts.

this drama must be finished immediately and must find a solution for the future.
if it's like this, and let it continue. an amateur can make an NFT work and buy it himself at a very high price. only to increase the popularity of his work. or rather to defraud some other investors in the NFT market.
The fear that had been disputed in the NFT project and market has finally become a reality. and we see one drama that might end badly for the NFT market.