You can say the same about so many things. This is a subject that has not only been debated ad infinitum on this board but pretty much at large since the tenth century.

So what do you think, your opinion as otherwise that’s not an answer ?

Although your questions seems rhetorical, I'm bored, so i will weigh-in for fun-

It's not (all) a "scam". But, when it comes to selling the art in a commercial transaction, it turns into a business like any other business( ie marketing campaigns/teams etc as you say).

IMO Damien Hirst is an example of a wonderful businessman, who's seemingly infinite ways to repackage dots on canvas and still keep fans buying and ascribing seemingly absurd values to  his work is impressive. If he was a nobody, and a "serious-buyer" saw those dots on paper in a thrift store, they'd likely pass by without a second glance.  ( maybe "serious-buyers" don't go to thrift stores. I wouldn't know )

On the other hand, I'm a big fan of Shizuko Yoshikawa, and were I not a student of her entire oeuvre,  I'd think much of her work was just silly little lines on paper, a la Damien Hirst.

So I guess my contribution to this age old discussion is that it seems to me that what one knows about an artist's past work helps create appreciation and value for the new work.

Yes it is a scam, create FOMO and you become a hype.
Buy Art without FOMO and Hype and you will win.

wait till this guy hears about NFTs...

It's only a scam if you get caught up in the hype. Ignore who everybody else is buying at the moment or who you think is trendy or who you think will be worth a shedload of money in the future. Just buy art that you like and want to hang on your walls at home. I get a huge amount of enjoyment from seeing nice art hanging on my walls. At the end of the day, that's all that matters, isn't it?