: 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 & Gazette
Synonyms
Examples 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 WebMegan Cerullo, CBS News, 15 Nov. 2023
With more than 300,000 entries added in the past two months alone, scam victims would likely struggle to identify similar scams without dedicating significant time to scan the database.
—Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 13 Nov. 2023
To report a scam, file a complaint online with the Federal Trade Commission.
—Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023
Consequently, people make better investment decisions, are less prone to bias and are more likely to detect scams.
—Cindi May, Discover Magazine, 10 Nov. 2023
And YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson, who goes by Mr Beast, also shared with his millions of followers that a deepfake advertisement using his likeness was a scam.
—Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 2 Nov. 2023
Naysayers called it a PR scam to garner goodwill or bolster the market for Live Nation’s own venues.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 1 Nov. 2023
At every turn, the scams at FTX and Alameda led back to making Bankman-Fried more important.
—Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 26 Oct. 2023
Other types of cyber incidents include data breaches, email phishing scams, website and social media defacement, and invasions of online classes or virtual meetings.
—Jackie Valley, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Oct. 2023
WIRED, 9 Nov. 2023
The test comes after Musk has encouraged users to sign up for X Premium as a way of reducing spam and scam activity on the platform, suggesting that requiring credit card payments helps verify a user’s identity and creates a higher barrier to entry for inauthentic accounts.
—Clare Duffy, CNN, 17 Oct. 2023
Some of these calls may be legitimate, but many of them are spam calls or robocalls that are trying to sell you something or scam you.
—Kurt Knutsson, Fox News, 12 Oct. 2023
Seth finds success there but also realizes that his firm is a chop shop that essentially scams investors.
—Lillian Brown, Vulture, 3 Oct. 2023
When someone clicks the links in the poison PDFs, they can be pushed through multiple websites, which ultimately direct them to scam landing pages, says Edwards, who presented the findings at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas.
—Matt Burgess, WIRED, 14 Aug. 2023
Officials confirmed the cartel now operates call centers that scam money from Americans and Canadians through fake offers to buy their timeshares.
—Mark Stevenson, Anchorage Daily News, 7 June 2023
There are many unscrupulous actors leveraging a variety of methods to scam and steal from others, and some companies collect data with the full intention of selling it for a profit.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes, 3 May 2023
But others — the true impostors — can cause much more harm, DMing unsuspecting fans to scam users out of money, solicit nude photos or otherwise exploit a celebrity’s star status.
—J. Clara Chan, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Apr. 2023
See More
Noun
How to spot a scam Look out for these other tell-tale signs that an email or call that appears to be coming from Amazon or another legitimate business is the work of a scam artist trying to dupe you.
—Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 15 Nov. 2023
With more than 300,000 entries added in the past two months alone, scam victims would likely struggle to identify similar scams without dedicating significant time to scan the database.
—Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 13 Nov. 2023
To report a scam, file a complaint online with the Federal Trade Commission.
—Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023
Consequently, people make better investment decisions, are less prone to bias and are more likely to detect scams.
—Cindi May, Discover Magazine, 10 Nov. 2023
And YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson, who goes by Mr Beast, also shared with his millions of followers that a deepfake advertisement using his likeness was a scam.
—Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 2 Nov. 2023
Naysayers called it a PR scam to garner goodwill or bolster the market for Live Nation’s own venues.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 1 Nov. 2023
At every turn, the scams at FTX and Alameda led back to making Bankman-Fried more important.
—Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 26 Oct. 2023
Other types of cyber incidents include data breaches, email phishing scams, website and social media defacement, and invasions of online classes or virtual meetings.
—Jackie Valley, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Oct. 2023
Verb
The act—a sprawling piece of legislation that covers a spectrum of issues, from how technology platforms should protect children from abuse to scam advertising and terrorist content—became law in October.
—WIRED, 9 Nov. 2023
The test comes after Musk has encouraged users to sign up for X Premium as a way of reducing spam and scam activity on the platform, suggesting that requiring credit card payments helps verify a user’s identity and creates a higher barrier to entry for inauthentic accounts.
—Clare Duffy, CNN, 17 Oct. 2023
Some of these calls may be legitimate, but many of them are spam calls or robocalls that are trying to sell you something or scam you.
—Kurt Knutsson, Fox News, 12 Oct. 2023
Seth finds success there but also realizes that his firm is a chop shop that essentially scams investors.
—Lillian Brown, Vulture, 3 Oct. 2023
When someone clicks the links in the poison PDFs, they can be pushed through multiple websites, which ultimately direct them to scam landing pages, says Edwards, who presented the findings at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas.
—Matt Burgess, WIRED, 14 Aug. 2023
Officials confirmed the cartel now operates call centers that scam money from Americans and Canadians through fake offers to buy their timeshares.
—Mark Stevenson, Anchorage Daily News, 7 June 2023
There are many unscrupulous actors leveraging a variety of methods to scam and steal from others, and some companies collect data with the full intention of selling it for a profit.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes, 3 May 2023
But others — the true impostors — can cause much more harm, DMing unsuspecting fans to scam users out of money, solicit nude photos or otherwise exploit a celebrity’s star status.
—J. Clara Chan, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Apr. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scam.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Dictionary Entries Near scam
Cite this Entry
“Scam.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scam. Accessed 28 Nov. 2023.
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Kids Definition
scam
nounˈskam
: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation
lost $500 in a business scam
scam
verb
Etymology
Noun
origin unknown
More from Merriam-Webster on scam
Nglish: Translation of scam for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of scam for Arabic Speakers
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