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 of scammer

• cheat
• dodger
• shark
• swindler

Examples of scammer in a Sentence

Internet scammers who never seem to run out of swindles

Recent Examples on the Web

Four scammers have been charged with stealing at least $38,000 from Walmart shoppers in Pennsylvania by allegedly using skimmers placed on self-checkout terminals. —Greta Cross, USA Today, 6 May 2026

Removing it with a data removal service reduces what scammers can use against you. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 6 May 2026

McCarron says no one in federal law enforcement would ever do what this scammer did. —Dorothy Tucker, CBS News, 6 May 2026

Social engineering is a type of fraud scheme used to trick victims into providing scammers with passwords, PINs and other personal information. —Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for scammer

• amor
• clamor
• clamour
• glamor
• glamour
• grammar
• hammer
• jammer
• rammer
• stammer
• programmer
• sledgehammer

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