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

Unclaimed property scam On its website, the state treasury has a warning about scammers using text messages to target potential unclaimed property claimants. —Michael Guise, CBS News, 19 Dec. 2025

Then there are the garden variety scammers, who find in crypto a means to separate people from their money via crypto ATM schemes — an epidemic that has cost Americans more than $330 million this year. —Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 18 Dec. 2025

Kurt's key takeaways The Facebook settlement payout created the perfect moment for scammers to slip fake messages into inboxes. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 18 Dec. 2025

Americans are increasingly victimized by scammers. —Kevin Collier, NBC news, 17 Dec. 2025

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