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

Many scammers use the internet to commit fraud, phishing and scam attacks, and often seniors are targeted. —Kara McGinley, USA Today, 21 June 2025

Leahy told the news station that the scammers even texted him and sent bank statements that appeared to be legit. —Angel Saunders, People.com, 19 June 2025

Demand for luxury objects exploded in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries….As prices soared, scammers and fraudsters got in on the action. —Dorothy Armstrong june 18, Literary Hub, 18 June 2025

This morning’s must reads Other must reads How scammers are using AI to steal college financial aid. —Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 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