scam
Americannoun
-
scams
plural
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Usage
What does scam mean? A scam is a deceptive scheme or trick used to cheat someone out of something, especially money. Scam is also a verb meaning to cheat someone in such a way. Example: Banks will never call you asking for your credit card number or social security number over the phone. If someone calls and asks for information like that, it’s a scam.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of scam
1960–65; originally carnival argot; of obscure origin
Explanation
A scam is a sneaky or dishonest plan that's meant to con someone. A diet scam, for example, falsely claims that people will lose weight if they buy special pills or drinks. A scam is basically a hoax dressed up to look like a real business plan, worthwhile invention, or investment idea. Scams are almost always designed to make money for their creators. You can also use the word as a verb: "His evil plan was to scam people into buying fake tickets to the baseball game." Word experts know that scam came from US carnival slang, but beyond that its origins are a mystery.
Vocabulary lists containing scam
Smoke and Mirrors: The Lingo of Illusion and Deception
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"Imperfect Me"
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Simply Scandalous!
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Sources familiar with the investigation said victims have been reluctant to come forward given the nature of the alleged scam.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
“This very same scam nearly got me last year. They had me on the phone for nearly 30 minutes when I googled ‘jury duty scam’ and immediately stuff popped up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Experts and locals tell the BBC this is likely to be the tip of the iceberg – and a symptom of a global scam industry that is spreading, evolving, and professionalising.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Is this a phishing scam — or am I suddenly popular?
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Maybe it was some kind of scam to spring him a few days early.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
Your morning catch up: Big Sur’s big summer, what to know about World Cup-related scams and more big stories.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Authorities and experts agree that the Forest City operations were probably staffed by criminals who had been driven out of Cambodia, a global nerve centre for transnational scams.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
People reported losing $3.5 billion to impostor scams in 2025, nearly triple 2020’s level, the Federal Trade Commission said in a June report.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
But the line between frauds and scams can be blurry in practice, according to a February letter that Lillie’s lawyer at the time sent to multiple Senate committees to describe her allegations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Once in a while I’d leak stuff about phishing scams.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
A WSJ investigation uncovers how North Koreans have scammed their way into remote jobs at U.S. companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Later, Bernie Madoff scammed billions from many of Wall Street’s leading institutions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
"But I wanted people to know that if I - an educated, urban woman who considers herself to be street-smart - could get scammed, it could happen to anyone," Shrivastav says.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
Who do you think is most likely to be scammed?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
I may not have liked the people in Lily that much, but I felt sorry for anyone being massively scammed.
From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley
Here’s the common sense: This isn’t a problem of scamming students or lazy teachers, though of course both exist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
But then you also see headlines about everyone’s scamming.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
In a supreme irony, as senators Ly Young Phat and Kok An took part in voting for a new law, which the Cambodian government says will harshly punish those involved in scamming.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026
Begging, scamming and threatening: they’re all tools of the writer’s trade in Pamela Hansford Johnson’s dark comedy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
“They were scamming you. Girls scam guys all the time with that. Kerri was listening in on the extension.”
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
