scam

1 of 2

noun

: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation
an insurance scam

scam

2 of 2

verb

scammed; scamming; scams

transitive verb

1
: to deceive and defraud (someone)
… the law firm had got the lucrative job of defending the corporate head of a savings and loan that had scammed another thousand or so people out of their savings …Joseph Wambaugh
2
: to obtain (something, such as money) by a scam
A Boston hedge fund manager who scammed millions of dollars from friends, family and other investors in what authorities say was a Ponzi scheme has been sent to prison for more than 14 years.The Worcester (Massachusetts) Telegram & Gazette

Examples of scam in a Sentence

Noun She was the victim of an insurance scam. a sophisticated credit card scam Verb The company scammed hundreds of people out of their life savings. I could tell they were scamming you and charging too much. They scammed a lot of money from unwary customers.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Over the past five years, American timeshare owners were bilked out of $288 million, according to the F.B.I., through various types of scams, including those run by the cartel. Maria Abi-Habib, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024 The victims of another scam were law-abiding Asian Americans. Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica, 14 Mar. 2024 Film Festival, tells the tale of an internet romance scam. Faye Bradley, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024 Tax season is prime time for tax scams, said O’Saben. Adriana Morga, Quartz, 8 Mar. 2024 Scammers have found creative ways to cheat investors out of their money, the BBB said in its annual report about the biggest scams of 2023, which is based on 67,000 reports of scams. Khristopher J. Brooks, CBS News, 6 Mar. 2024 That meant creating safeguards to protect EU users to the greatest extent possible and to respond to new threats, including new vectors for malware and viruses, opportunities for scams and fraud, and challenges to ensuring apps are functional on Apple’s platforms. Emma Roth, The Verge, 1 Mar. 2024 This looks like another case of the Lyft vomit scam. Christopher Elliott, King Features Syndicate, The Mercury News, 11 Mar. 2024 Before news of the scam emerged, the photos were published in the Wall Street Journal, Vice and the BBC, among others, and Martins had garnered a growing reputation in the international photojournalism community, along with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram. Karla Adam, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024
Verb
Last August, Berhan was charged with conspiring with other law enforcement officials to scam the cities of Antioch and Pittsburg out of incentive pay offered to cops who get college degrees. Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2024 The two best friends conspire to scam Bruce Marcus, one of Silicon Valley’s most famous venture capitalist billionaires, played by actor and comedian Marc Evan Jackson, out of millions of dollars. Taylor Lorenz, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024 They’re lured to compounds in countries including Cambodia and Myanmar with offers of high-paying jobs, then trapped, forced to scam, and sometimes beaten and tortured. Zeke Faux, Fortune, 29 Feb. 2024 Across the internet, an unknown actor had created a deepfake video of MrBeast to scam his many followers. Emilien Coquard, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2024 All of those videos seemingly aimed to scam viewers of their money. Angela Yang, NBC News, 10 Jan. 2024 The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday outlawed robocalls that contain voices generated by artificial intelligence, a decision that sends a clear message that exploiting the technology to scam people and mislead voters won’t be tolerated. Ali Swenson, Fortune, 8 Feb. 2024 For information about how CNN As Equals is funded and more, check out our FAQs. CNN — Catfishing is when a person uses false information and images to create a fake identity online with the intention to trick, harass, or scam another person. Sen Nguyen, CNN, 29 Jan. 2024 Jason Statham stars as Adam Clay, a man who seeks vengeance on the call center that scams one of his friends (played by Phylicia Rashad). William Earl, Variety, 11 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scam.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun

1958, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1963, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of scam was in 1958

Dictionary Entries Near scam

Cite this Entry

“Scam.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scam. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

scam

noun
ˈskam
: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation
lost $500 in a business scam
scam verb
Etymology

Noun

origin unknown

More from Merriam-Webster on scam

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