I very much doubt shame was involved. At least I don't think I know anyone who would feel shame over doing this

I have prior experience with a friend deciding to get into shady Internet ripoff stuff. They definitely were ashamed to discuss it with me and ended up trying to lie about it so they wouldn’t lose me as a friend. I don’t contradict that some would be unashamed, but I encourage giving more credence to the human capacity for cognitive dissonance.