as in scams
an instance of the use of dishonest methods to acquire something of value
it's amazing how intelligent people fall for that investment-fund shell game
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Recent Examples of shell games
Budget shell games, in other words.
—
The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 21 Oct. 2025
The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 21 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shell games
scams
Noun
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Names, email addresses, birth dates and purchase history can be used to create highly convincing scams.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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The report showed romance scams had the highest median dollar loss of all scam types at $6,099.—
Barbara White,
Kansas City Star,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shell games.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shell%20games. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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