as in cheat
a dishonest person who uses clever means to cheat others out of something of value
Internet scammers who never seem to run out of swindles
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scammer
In one scheme, prosecutors say dozens of scammers bilked more than $250 million from a federal program meant to feed hungry children in what has been described as the largest pandemic-era fraud scheme in the country.
—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 9 Jan. 2026
Any interaction only helps scammers spread them further.
—Jack Irvin, PEOPLE, 8 Jan. 2026
Squibb plays Thelma Post, a grandmother who gets duped by a phone scammer, discovers her mistake, and makes a perilous journey through the streets of Los Angeles to track down the culprit.
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 25 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
See All Example Sentences for scammer
N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 9 Jan. 2026
Any interaction only helps scammers spread them further.
—Jack Irvin, PEOPLE, 8 Jan. 2026
Squibb plays Thelma Post, a grandmother who gets duped by a phone scammer, discovers her mistake, and makes a perilous journey through the streets of Los Angeles to track down the culprit.
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 25 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
See All Example Sentences for scammer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scammer
Noun
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Others might feel the author cheats here, leaving it up to the reader to decide.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
11 Jan. 2026
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The movie follows a group of petty cheats, liars and drunks who are duped by nefarious opportunists who visit their crumbling town.—
John Penner,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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But my collection intentionally ignored the fraudulent exploits of billionaire heirs, tax dodgers and corporate magnates — defense contracts, government lobbying, bank accounts in Switzerland, shell companies in Panama, citizenship of Antigua and political asylum in London.—
Snigdha Poonam,
The Dial,
28 Oct. 2025
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Denise Rich, a Democratic donor, gave four hundred and fifty thousand dollars to his Presidential-library foundation, and Clinton, on his final day in office, pardoned her ex-husband, Marc Rich, a tax dodger and a sanctions evader who’d fled to Switzerland.—
David D. Kirkpatrick,
New Yorker,
11 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Authorities in California confirmed last week that 55-year-old Erica Fox died from a shark attack.—
Lucia I Suarez Sang,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
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Thirty sharks were added, too, before the exhibit opened to the public in April 2003.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Good afternoon and welcome to Con Con, the convention for swindlers, mountebanks, and the people who love them.—
Henry Alford,
New Yorker,
1 Dec. 2025
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But he's been a swindler his entire life.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scammer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scammer. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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