shell game

American  

noun

1. a sleight-of-hand swindling game resembling thimblerig but employing walnut shells or the like instead of thimblelike cups.

2. any deceit, swindle, fraud, or the like.

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shell game British  

noun

1. the US name for thimblerig

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Etymology

Origin of shell game

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90

Example Sentences

The group has called it a “shell game” and a “taxpayer rip-off.”

From Los Angeles Times

This atomic shell game would cover an area about the size of the state of Alabama.

From Salon

The complaint also alleges that, for years, Grubhub “hidden the true cost of its delivery services — a tactic that a former executive called a ‘pricing shell game.’”

From Salon

Each had a sea sponge underneath, like a rigged shell game.

From Literature

“It’s a shell game and there’s no way to enforce this stuff because it’s all an algorithm in a black box — how we’re paid and whether or not we get benefits,” Moore said.

From Los Angeles Times