scammer

noun

scam·​mer ˈska-mər 

plural scammers

: one who perpetrates a scam : a person who commits or participates in a fraudulent scheme or operation

insurance/credit card scammers

The company will not call you to ask for your Social Security or account number, but nefarious scammers might.

—Ellen Marks

Now that most people are alert to suspicious e-mails and phony phone calls, text messages are the new frontier for scammers out to con you.

—Consumer Reports

Synonyms

• bilk
• bilker
• cheat
• cheater
• chiseler
• chiseller
• confidence man
• cozener
• defrauder
• dodger
• fakir
• finagler
• fraudster [chiefly British]
• hoaxer
• scamster
• shark
• sharper
• sharpie
• sharpy
• skinner
• swindler
• tricker
• trickster

Examples of scammer in a Sentence

Internet scammers who never seem to run out of swindles

Recent Examples on the Web

Jordan did so, and then the scammer ordered him to pay up — threatening to release the images otherwise. —Nikole Killion, CBS News, 1 June 2024

McGovern said scammers may insist on being paid through peer-to-peer payment apps like Cash App. —Tanasia Kenney, Miami Herald, 31 May 2024

But these opportunities came with expenses — and that's where the scammer cashed in. —Nicole Acosta, Peoplemag, 8 May 2024

The victim was instructed to withdraw money from the bank to cover the error, while the scammer arranged for a courier to go to the victim’s house to pick up the payment. —Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 13 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

scammer

noun

scam·​mer

ˈskam-ər

: someone who perpetuates a scam : a person who commits or participates in a fraudulent scheme or operation