: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation
an insurance scam
scammed; scamming; scams
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
Joseph Wambaugh2
: 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
The Worcester (Massachusetts) Telegram & GazetteExamples 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
Kevin Collier, NBC news, 13 Nov. 2025
This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 13 Nov. 2025
Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 13 Nov. 2025
The emerging damage of deepfakes On September 15th, 2025, Reuters reported that international gangs were conducting fraud operations by using AI to make online romance scams more believable.
—Matt Emma, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scam
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
While Mobile Commons declined to share how many people received the scam message, a spokesperson for the state of New York’s Office of Information Technology Services told NBC News that around 188,000 people get text messages from the state and that around 160,000 received the scam text.
—Kevin Collier, NBC news, 13 Nov. 2025
This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 13 Nov. 2025
Verb
Currently filming in Hong Kong, Peaches follows Nora (Thatcher) and Bing Bing (Liu), two spoiled best friends who scam sugar daddies for a living.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 13 Nov. 2025
The emerging damage of deepfakes On September 15th, 2025, Reuters reported that international gangs were conducting fraud operations by using AI to make online romance scams more believable.
—Matt Emma, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scam
Cite this Entry
“Scam.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scam. Accessed 18 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share