short con

American  

noun

Slang.

1. any simple confidence game involving a relatively small amount of money.

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Example Sentences

Parker, a carnival worker whose showmanship and talent for the short con earned him the nickname “The Snowman,” is portrayed as an Iago-like schemer who sees Presley as the ultimate geek, ripe for exploitation.

From Washington Post

“Defendants have chosen to deal with it in a classic Chicago political way … a short con shell game, a corrupt scheme to deceive and seemingly legitimize an illegal land grab,” the lawsuit says.

From Seattle Times

But where Tim was only about the short con, Sizwe had schemes: If we do this, we get that, then we can flip that for the other thing, which gives us the leverage we need to get something bigger.

From Literature

It’s also a bald-faced lie, a fake promise and a short con.

From Slate

Chuck was originally invented just to give Jimmy someone to care about, a reason for being other than just the short con.

From New York Times